EvangeliCop
by UnderAGlassMoon
Summary: Shinji Ikari is a detective in the Tokyo 3 Metropolitan Police. One day on the job, he is assigned a new partner, Asuka Langley Sohryu, and the two of them are sent on a case that would change both of their lives forever...
1. The New Gun

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

Shinji Ikari checked his watch to find he still had half an hour of his working day left. He sighed, before returning to typing his report. It had been a long day, and he had just closed a case up yesterday. It wasn't the way he liked; with a bullet in the head of the accused. However, he the punk had opened fire on them, so there was nothing they could have done. Despite that, he still had the closure he needed for the case; hence he had ended several weeks worth of stress for himself. He had hoped that this would be the last big case for a while, because he could really use the break.

"Hey, Ikari, the captain wants to see you in the office," said Maya Ibuki, the captain's secretary.

"All right. I'll be just in," Shinji replied. Maya was older than Shinji, but was by definition quite cute. She had short black hair that fell around her neck. Shinji got along pretty well with her and she could have been one of his few friends in this world. "How'd it go with Aoba?" Shinji asked.

"It was pretty good for a while, but I had to call it off after a while," Maya replied.

"Really? How come?"

"It was just…awkward. I couldn't really work around him well."

"That's a shame. Well Ibuki, you do need to find yourself another date sometime. You can't be single all your life."

"That goes to you as well, Mr 'I Work Alone'. I can't remember the last time you went on a date."

"I've been on a few. Nothing substantial though. Am I all right to walk into the captain's office?"

"Sure, go right on in."

Shinji opened the door labelled 'Captain' to see the purpled haired woman behind a pile of paperwork, as was the norm around her office. Captain Misato Kaji was in charge of the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police Investigations section and recently, she had the highest workload among all the section chiefs in the whole of the Metropolitan Police. You couldn't tell though. She was still as attractive as ever. It was a shame she was married.

"You called me, Captain?" Shinji said.

"Yeah Ikari, I did. Take a seat, right now, I need to find the file I need to show you," she said, rummaging around her desk. Shinji wondered how it was possible to find anything around her office. "Ah, here it is," Misato said, pulling out what looked like an officer's information file. "Okay Ikari, here's the deal; I've got you a partner."

Shinji sat silent for a moment, before voicing his protest, "But Captain, you know I can't do that, because…"

"Don't give me any of this 'I work alone' bullshit, 'cos that ain't the way things are run in this department," Misato said, rather harshly. "Ikari, you're a good cop, but if you ever want to make Lieutenant, then you gotta learn to work with other people. That's the name of the game once you go up past Sergeant."

Shinji sat down and digested the information. The last time the captain set Shinji up with a partner didn't go too well. What made this any different? "Well, is he a rook?" Shinji asked.

"First of all, he's a she. And no, she ain't no rookie. She led the Yakuza bust in Tokyo-2," the captain stated.

_Well, _thought an impressed Shinji, _that operation was a piece of work_. "So she's being transferred down from No 1 Metropolitan?" Shinji asked.

"Yup. Here are a photo and a name, plus some old records," Misato said, pushing the file forward.

"Asuka Langley Sohryu. Hmm, cute name," Shinji chuckled. He looked at the picture and one thing came straight to mind. "Foreigner?" he asked.

"You couldn't tell it from how well she speaks Japanese. But yeah, she's predominantly German," Misato explained.

"I see," Shinji said. "So when does she start?"

"Tomorrow."

Shinji started at her blankly. "Tomorrow? Captain, surely you could have given me more warning?" Shinji asked.

"She's been given warning. You, my friend, are a different matter," Misato said. "Listen, you gotta learn to work with people. You got a lot of expectations on you."

Shinji nodded, knowing that his father was Commander of the No 2, or Tokyo-3, Metropolitan Police. "Yeah, I know that. The old man told me he'd give me a kick up the ass if I wasn't Lieutenant Detective by next year," Shinji said.

"And what better way to do get a promotion than to crack a few cases with your new partner?" Misato asked. "And on the plus side, she sure is good looking."

"That is a plus," Shinji agreed.

"Don't screw this up, Shinji. I went out my way to get her as your partner. She's heard about you, as you may be unaware that your reputation precedes you. I thought she'd suit your style of work. Ikari, do good on this, not just for me, but for yourself," Misato said.

"Sure thing, Captain," Shinji said.

"Well, that's good. She will be here tomorrow, right from the start of the day. You're free to go home now. You've done your job for the day."

"Gee, thanks Captain. And I promise to do good on the whole partner thing."

"You better."

Shinji left the office and gave Maya a smile before heading off to a local bar to meet up with a few of the guys.

* * *

Toji Suzuhara was an officer in the Organised Crime Section, and Kensuke Aida was a Police Forensics expert. They were old pals from the academy, and Shinji would meet up with them on a regular basis, just to hang out or watch a football game.

This time, he was meeting them at a pretty upscale local bar. He entered the place, and found the two sitting at a table. They waved him over and he joined them. "Hard day, Shinji?" Kensuke chuckled.

"Not really. Just some news," Shinji replied.

"News, huh?" Toji asked. "What's it this time?"

"The Captain set me up with a partner," Shinji replied.

"Well, ain't that a shame," Toji laughed. "Although I would sure love to get set up with your captain!"

The three laughed, knowing that Misato's appearance and good looks weren't exactly typical 'cop'. "I wouldn't do that if I where you, buddy. I know her husband and he's one of these National Security types, ya know? You get on the wrong side of him and he might make you _disappear_," Shinji pointed out.

"Really? I've heard it all now. I thought I heard it all when I heard you got reprimanded _again _for the last time you had a partner, but now I hear your Captain's married to someone in National Security, I have heard it all," Kensuke said.

"I almost thought _you_ were untouchable, with your old man being Commander. I guess we were all wrong," Toji said.

"Don't get me wrong, the old man's a great guy. But when it comes to me, the expectations are up to my neck. He isn't best pleased when I screw up, especially on the partner issue," Shinji explained.

"So who'd they set you up with this time? Another rookie?" Kensuke asked.

"Nah, this time I got someone who knows what they're doing," Shinji replied.

"Oh right. So, who is he?" Toji asked.

"Well, first of all, he's a she," Shinji said, echoing Misato's words. "And _she_ led the Tokyo-2 Yakuza bust."

"No shit? That was one hell of an operation. Almost as good as the ones I run," Toji chuckled.

"Hey, you have to give a big assist to Investigations for that bust," Shinji pointed out. "Plus, I nailed the guy."

"That guy nearly nailed you. But yeah, couldn't have done it without you. Anyway, you spill over in Organised Crime turf all the time," Toji said.

"Hey ladies, could we quit with the bickering?" Kensuke said. "You'd make life in forensics much easier if you two ain't trying to claim every case as your own."

The two knew Kensuke was right, so they changed topic. "So, your new partner, what's she like?" Toji asked.

"What's she like?" Shinji asked back.

"Well, yeah, appearance and all. She a looker?"

Shinji nodded his head while a smile. This got Kensuke's attention. "She looked mighty fine in the picture," Shinji replied.

"Damn. How come this boy gets all the good stuff?" Kensuke muttered.

"That's 'cos I don't work in forensics," Shinji pointed out.

"Ooh. That's low," Kensuke said. "I think you should buy the drinks for that."

"I agree," Toji chuckled. Shinji sighed as he stood up to buy the round and wondered what his new partner would be like.

* * *

Shinji sauntered into work casually with a cup of coffee in hand. When he went to his desk, another desk had been placed perpendicular to his, with a box of personal items on it. _So, she's here, _Shinji thought. He looked toward the Captain's office, and saw a head of strawberry blonde hair through the frosted window. _Yup, she's definitely here, _Shinji thought again.

He opened up his computer and began checking for any new assignments or cases. Sure enough, there was one for this morning that he would get straight to work on…once his partner had settled in. He sipped his coffee while slipping glances toward the office. His new partner certainly seemed animated in her mannerisms.

Soon she exited the office and headed toward her new desk. "Hey, Detective Shinji Ikari, right?" she asked. Shinji smiled as he stood up and extended his hand. "Yup. And you must be Detective Asuka Langley Sohryu," he said.

"That's me," she said with a confident smile. That was something Shinji immediately took a liking to. She seemed to have aura of confidence, which was a good sign. And apart from that, she had the kind of figure that all women wanted and that all men wanted women to have.

"Well, I can gladly say that I will be your new partner," Shinji said, taking a seat, going through all the motions that he had done before with previous partners, although this time his partner wasn't a rookie.

"Same here," Asuka said. "I heard about your work, especially the Mugita case. That was a hell of a bust."

"Thank you. I have to say, when I heard about your involvement in the recent Tokyo-2 Yakuza case, I was very impressed," Shinji said.

"Why thank you! Well, I hope that this will be a fruitful relationship," Asuka said.

"Me too. And we have work to do straight away as well."

"Really? I'll just set my desk up and we'll head out."

Shinji droved his unmarked police car (it was a BMW M5, which was a nice touch) toward the scene of the crime. "You want a coffee or anything before we get there?" Shinji asked. "My treat."

"Yeah, sure," Asuka replied. Shinji was no longer going through the motions, as none of his previous partners was a highly attractive woman. She had her long red hair tied into a ponytail and Shinji wondered what it would look like hanging down.

After they stopped to get coffee, they arrived at the scene to find it had been taped off. It was a major Tokyo-3 bank and apparently it had been robbed. The bank owner it seemed, was being questioned by an officer, but the officer soon gave way at the appearance of Shinji. "Good morning, sir. I'm Detective Ikari, and this is Detective Sohryu," Shinji greeted. "I understand your bank was robbed?"

"Yes, Detective. However, the fact that it was robbed does not concern. It was the vault that the money was stolen from that concerns me," the owner replied.

"Certain significance?" Shinji asked.

"I believe so," the owner replied. "If you two can take me inside, then I can explain what I'm talking about."

"Of course. Lead the way, sir," Shinji said.

It was a very impressive structure. The floors were tiled with marble and the foyer was fashioned very ornately. They were led down into the basement, where a large steel door was hanging open. Shinji made a note to check with forensics for any evidence. "I have reason to believe that the vault that was stolen from belongs to some in the Yakuza," the owner said.

"You don't know?" It was Asuka this time.

"No. We express total client confidentiality. However, this man had Yakuza written all over him," the owner explained.

"Very well," Shinji said, taking a note. "So, how much money was stolen?"

"All of the money in the vault. It had a value equal to five million US dollars."

"Which is quite a substantial dent in the reserves of the Yakuza," Shinji noted.

"Yes. I'm sure they have other accounts in other banks. However, what startles me is the nature of the robbery," the owner said.

"Continue," Asuka said, trying to get as much as she could out of this man.

"Well, _all _the security guards were killed; each had a bullet in the head. All the CCTV camera footage was stolen along with the money. This was done very professionally and planned ahead I suspect," the owner explained.

"I see. Well, thank you for your time. Detective Sohryu and I will take a look around the scene. The officer here will escort you back out," Shinji said.

After the owner left Shinji looked around the bank. "Well, looks like someone's trying to start a war with the Yakuza," Shinji noted.

"They'll definitely demand heads for this," Asuka agreed.

"This means that Organised Crime gets involved in the investigation as well. They'll chase ghosts while we follow the real leads," Shinji added. Asuka frowned. She had heard that Shinji Ikari had a record of not working well with other people, never mind other police departments.

"We could use all the help we could get," Asuka said. "This looks serious." Shinji nodded, and examined the vault. It had been left open with its contents gone. "Well, it looks like we have nothing to go on. We'll have to get out to let forensics do their thing," Shinji said.

"Right," Asuka agreed.

When Shinji left the bank, he wasn't surprised to see Toji Suzuhara standing outside, munching a doughnut. "Morning, Shinji," he said.

"Morning Toji. Detective Sohryu, this is Detective Toji Suzuhara from Organised Crime, and also a good friend of mine," Shinji said.

"How do you do?" Toji said, extending a hand. "A pleasure."

"Pleasure is all mine," Asuka said, although her smile looked uneasy.

"So, you've heard about the Yakuza connection?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah, hence me being here. This is big. We've got armed robbery and five cases of murder. According to our good friends in forensics, four of the five guards were tied up, and those four were shot exactly in the centre of the head. Also, bloodstains on the wall have made us come to believe that they were killed, execution style," Toji explained.

"Great, so that's four counts of premeditated murder," Asuka said.

"Yup," Toji said, finishing off his doughnut. "You're obviously aware we're not dealing with fools here."

"Yeah. I'm just hoping forensics comes up with something, like prints or something. Right now, we have nothing to go on," Shinji said.

"What about the CCTV cameras?" Toji asked.

"Nothing. The tapes were all stolen," Shinji answered.

"No witnesses?" Asuka asked.

"If there are any, they sure are taking their sweet time coming out," Toji said in annoyance. "Looks like we got ourselves another bastard of a case."

"You can say that again," Shinji agreed.

"Another?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah. We've spent the last six weeks on another case and the Yakuza were involved. It all ended in a shoot out," Shinji said.

"Mr Hero here put a bullet in the bad guy's head," Toji said, patting Shinji on the shoulder. "Anyway, if you'll excuse me, I've got people to see and things to do. If I have anything, I'll get in touch."

"Sure thing," said Shinji. He checked his watch. "Well, it's been a good start so far," he muttered.

"You bet," Asuka agreed, in annoyance. "And that Toji guy was…looking at me. You know how."

"Oh, really? Sorry, he can't help himself around good looking women," Shinji said.

"You seem pretty under control yourself," Asuka noted, seeing that Shinji hadn't been staring at her breasts.

"It's my job, Detective Sohryu. Any other way would be detrimental to our good working relationship," Shinji said with a smile.

"Quite the smooth talker," Asuka said, returning Shinji's smile. "Well, since we are planning on a good working relationship, maybe we should switch to first name basis."

"All right. So from now on I'll be Shinji."

"And from now on I'll be Asuka."

* * *

Shinji's morning got better. "Nothing? Not a single print?" Shinji asked down the phone.

"No," Kensuke replied. "Not one. We have a few hair samples but I doubt they'll turn out anything conclusive."

"Just peachy," Shinji muttered.

"Anyway, my next stop is the morgue. We're going to try and track down where the bullets used came from. Sorry we couldn't do more man," Kensuke said.

"It's okay," Shinji said, although he was clearly annoyed after he hung up. "Sorry you couldn't start your tenure here with an easier case."

"No, it's fine. I like challenges anyway," Asuka said. "This is almost scary though, how well it was done."

"Yeah, I know. I'm trying to think who would hold a grudge against the Yakuza but coming to think of it, most of those people are dead," Shinji said.

"No one said the Yakuza were a friendly bunch," Asuka said. "In the big bust in Tokyo-2, we lost a good officer. He was also my boyfriend at the time."

"I'm sorry," Shinji said.

"It's okay. I've kind of gotten over it," Asuka said. "Sorry for piling you up with depressing information. We've got a case to crack."

"At this rate, we're not going to be doing much cracking anytime soon," Shinji said. "And besides, if we are to maintain a good working relationship, it's good if we know each other, right?" Asuka nodded with a smile. "Good. Well, since nothing is happening here, I suggest lunch," Shinji said after looking at his watch.

"Best idea I've heard all day," Asuka said.

* * *

"So your dad never wanted you to be in the police?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah. When I told him that I had gotten accepted into the police academy, he gave me one of those 'disapproving' father looks," Shinji chuckled. Asuka laughed at the thought. "So what did he do once you became an officer?" she asked.

"Placed a helluva lotta expectations on me," Shinji said next.

"Really? That seems a bit hypocritical," Asuka said.

"Well, that's my dad. 'I don't want you to do that, but if you do that, you do it damn well!' he would say," Shinji said.

The two laughed as their plates became emptied of food. "What about you?" Shinji asked.

"Dunno. I moved over here from Germany when I was about six. Something about police work just appealed to me, so I went through with it," she said. "I graduated from the Tokyo-2 academy and got a posting in investigations. The rest is all history."

"I see," Shinji said. "Anyway, we better get back to the office. We have reports to fill out."

"Oh, the joy," Asuka said sarcastically.


	2. Trail of Bullets

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

Shinji frowned as he heard the news over the phone. "So the bullet trail left you going in circles?" he asked. 

"Yeah. We just kept coming to an arms manufacturer that either doesn't exist or disappeared off the face of the planet," Kensuke replied.

"You have a name?" Shinji asked.

"NERV, n-e-r-v, all capitalised," Kensuke said.

"Right," Shinji said, taking the name down on a post-it note. "Thanks for everything."

"Sure. Sorry it couldn't be more."

Shinji placed the receiver down and typed in 'NERV' on his computer. Sure enough, he got that they were a registered arms manufacturer, but what was very curious was that they had no factories or facilities or any sort, according to the police database.

"Asuka, does the name NERV ring a bell?" Shinji asked.

"NERV? No, I've never heard of it," Asuka said. "What are they?"

"Apparently, they supplied the bullets that killed our guard friends. However, they don't seem to exist anywhere in Japan and if they did, they're gone now."

"That is strange."

"Something tells me that this is a dead end," Shinji said. "I get the feeling that someone wants us to investigate this, just to waste our time."

"We should chase it up nonetheless. It could turn out to be a useful lead," Asuka pointed out.

Shinji was about to disagree, but saw that she had a good point. He still wasn't used to someone going against his ideas and hunches and he wondered if he ever could. "Right, so today, we're going to try find anything we can about NERV, starting with any known or former business associates," Shinji said.

"Sounds like a plan," Asuka said, taking her jacket off her seat.

* * *

They went around asking people who were in the know about the arms business, both legal and black market. It was the same with everyone they asked; they just either shook their head or shrugged their shoulders. "One dead end after another," Shinji muttered. 

"There's still one more person," Asuka said. "His business supply firearms for security firms and whatnot."

"All right. We'll question this guy and we'll be done for the day," Shinji said.

They drove down through the city in silence. Asuka looked over at Shinji. He looked visibly annoyed, but at what? The fact that he had to work with a partner? She had heard all about his past partners and wondered if she was going to share the same fate.

However, it just didn't seem that way. He seemed to be a very nice person and was obviously a very competent cop. He just had a problem with people when doing his job. He felt like he had to do it alone.

_Come to think of it,_ Asuka pondered, _that's what I was like back in Tokyo-2. They had to bring me down here kicking and screaming. I hated the idea of working with a partner. The Captain of my section told me that Shinji Ikari would be a perfect partner for me. Was that maybe because he doesn't want a partner as badly as me?_

"Here we are," Shinji said.

"Right, let's get this done with," Asuka declared. The knocked on the door and were greeted by a man who looked around in his forties. He was quite short and stocky and pwore reading glasses. As a police officer, Shinji had learned to judge and scrutinise people within seconds. This man looked respectable, even businessman like. "Hello Mr Tanaka. I'm Detective Ikari and this is Detective Sohryu," Shinji said.

"Is there any trouble Detective?" the man asked.

"No sir," Shinji said. "We're just here to ask questions concerning a certain arms manufacturer."

"Ah, I see. Do come in," he said.

It was small office building, with a warehouse around back and no surprise as to its contents. This company provided weapons to private security companies around the world and quite successfully, Shinji imagined.

He led them into his main office, which was not large but not small either. There was nothing outstanding and the building so far had seemed quite ordinary. Mr Tanaka had taken out a file, presumably with all the arms manufacturers' details he had dealt with. "So, which arms manufacturer do you wish to inquire about?" he asked.

"NERV," Asuka said.

"Ah, yes, NERV. I deal with them regularly," Mr Tanaka said. Shinji and Asuka glanced at each other for a second, before giving Mr Tanaka their undivided attention. "I see. Are you aware of the armed robbery that took place in central Tokyo-3 yesterday?" Shinji asked.

"Yes, it's shocking what people will do for money nowadays," he said.

_Like sell guns, _Asuka didn't say.

"Likewise, sir. Anyway, the bullets used in the incident have been traced to NERV. They are of 9mm calibre. We tried to track NERV ourselves, but according to our records, they don't seem to exist," Shinji said.

"Oh, they exist all right. They are one of Japan's major producers of all kinds of rounds, from 9mm up to .50 calibre. The reason you cannot find them is because they have special government protection, which keeps them off the map."

"I see. Well, they have either directly or indirectly supplied the bullets to one case of murder and at least four cases of pre-meditated murder," Shinji explained. "This, being the reason for our visit."

"I see. Well, I cannot help you any further than to provide a phone number. They're a strange bunch at NERV, and refuse to give out their address to anyone. Hence the reason why nobody can find them," Mr Tanaka explained. He handed over a business card before the two detectives took their leave.

* * *

"God's in his heaven, all's right with the world?" Asuka read off the business card. "He was right about them being a strange bunch. And I doubt phoning them would do much." 

"Government protection. Who would have figured, eh?" Shinji said as he climbed into his car.

"That just makes things harder for us to do. It's already out of our pay grade," Asuka muttered.

"We'll find out one way or another," Shinji said. "This is turning out to be quite the interesting case."

"And one way or another, the government's involved now," Asuka said. "Have any friends up there?"

"Not really," Shinji said. "Although there is someone I know in National Security. Misato's husband. The name's Ryoji Kaji."

"Kaji?" Asuka asked. "Tall, black hair? Usually wears his hair in a ponytail?"

"Yeah, that's him. Why, you know him?"

"I knew him when I was in high school," Asuka said. _Not to mention I had a huge crush on him at the time. _

"Well, Kaji has connections, so I think we'll ask Misato if we can have a word with him…off the record," Shinji said.

"Why off the record?" Asuka asked.

"You what things are like with these National Security types. Speak to them one day, wake up dead the next," Shinji said.

"Bond, James Bond," Asuka said, teasing her partner.

"Oh, very funny," Shinji said, shooting a look over to the redhead. She blew a raspberry toward Shinji and he chuckled lightly before setting off yet again.

* * *

"So, what brings you two to my office?" Kaji asked as the two officers were seated in front of him. He had already greeted Asuka with a hug and a smile, which made Shinji feel slightly uncomfortable for some reason. "We're here off the record," Shinji said. "We were making inquires about the armed robbery in Tokyo-3 but we've come against a wall. A _government _wall." 

"And you came on the assumption that I can get you past these walls?" Kaji asked. The two young detectives nodded. "Well, what kind of wall you come up against?"

Shinji mentioned to Asuka to explain. She nodded and said, "The bullets used in the murders of the security guards were traced back to an arms manufacturer named as NERV. At first, checking our records, it seemed NERV didn't exist, but we found out through one of our sources that NERV had government protection. In order to further our investigation, we need to question the people at NERV directly and we'd preferably not do that by their customer service line. As of yet, we do not have an address."

"I see," Kaji said, nodding his head. "Now, you both have to understand NERV has government protection for a reason. However, I will do some digging. Could I get a contact number, please? Preferably not that of your office." Shinji wrote down his mobile phone number and left that with Kaji. "Thanks a lot Kaji. We really appreciate this," Shinji said.

"I'll do anything I can to help two rising stars of my wife's department," he replied with a smile.

They returned yet again to Shinji's car, where they seemed to have spent most of their day. "That was productive," Shinji said.

"Come to think of it, not even I have your mobile phone number," Asuka said, taking her phone out. "And it would be useful to have it." Shinji told her his number and she told him hers, which meant another loose end was tied up. "Hey, partner? Will I ever get a chance to drive this Beemer? It looks fun to drive," Asuka asked.

"You can drive right now actually, I'm getting pretty tired of driving," Shinji said, stretching his arms out and yawning.

* * *

They ended up in a police chase after Asuka was passed by street racers at over 120mph, Shinji looked as if he had seen several ghosts, all at once. "That was fun. I loved it when I saw the look on that guy's face when I pulled up alongside them," Asuka said. 

"Your first arrest here in Tokyo-3," Shinji said, with a smile, despite still being visibly shaken after his German car fell to the hands of a German woman, who drove very aggressively anyway without being involved in a chase.

"They'll get away with a slap on the wrist, but hey, it was worth it," Asuka said. "You done any chases?"

"I don't tend to get involved in chases. The last one I did ended up with a shoot-out, which wasn't pleasant," Shinji said.

"I see. I've never been in a gunfight before. I always seem to be somewhere else when they're happening," Asuka said.

"Trust me, it's better that way," said Shinji, remember seeing blood spray into the air after he had put his bullet into the head of that fiend. He felt no remorse for the man. He had shot at his fellow officers and injured two of them. One of those good officers was confined to a wheelchair. Shinji had no regrets about killing that man.

"I'll take your word for it," said Asuka. "Well then, that's my second day done here."

"Hey, if you're not doing anything, I was wondering if you wanted dinner tonight, or something," Shinji said.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Asuka asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Not a date; an outing aimed out strengthening our good working relationship," Shinji replied.

Asuka giggled and said, "Sure, are you going to pick me up?"

"I would if I knew where you lived," Shinji replied. Asuka wrote down her address on her notepad and ripped the piece of paper out. "Thanks. So I'll see you at eight?" Shinji asked.

"Half past seven," Asuka insisted.

"Half past seven then," Shinji agreed.

* * *

Shinji stood outside Asuka's door, holding the piece of paper that told him where Asuka lived, wondering if he had the right address. There was only one way to find out. He rung the bell and waited. The door opened to reveal Asuka, dressed in a pink sundress. Shinji laughed at her though, because she was holding her heel up, trying to slip on one of her shoes and hopping about with her purse in her mouth. She said something, but since her purse was in her mouth, Shinji couldn't make it out, making him laugh more. 

She finally slipped her heel on and slapped Shinji on the shoulder with her purse. "I said shut up!" she said. "If you keep laughing at me, that would be detrimental to our good working relationship!"

"Sure," Shinji said, still chuckling. "So, shall we?"

"Yes, let's," Asuka replied.

"You look nice," Shinji said.

"Thanks, Shinji," said Asuka. "So, where are we eating?"

"There's a new seafood restaurant I've been planning to go to out on the bay," Shinji said. "I've heard it's good."

"It better be!" Asuka said.

* * *

Asuka was quite impressed in Shinji's taste in cars; both his unmarked patrol car and his personal car were German. This time it was a silver Mercedes CLK63 AMG. "I see you like German cars," Asuka said. 

"Not really. They're just like a certain German woman; I'm getting to know them," Shinji replied. Asuka smiled and wondered what Shinji had planned. "But seriously, you like German cars?" Asuka asked.

"Yup. Especially powerful, fast, German cars," Shinji said. "Hence the AMG model."

"I see. Although I don't see where you get the money for these indulgences," Asuka said.

"I'm single," Shinji replied simply.

"Ah. That explains it all," Asuka laughed.

They arrived at the restaurant and Asuka threatened that she would leave if Shinji didn't get them a table outside, with a view of the bay. "You're really insistent on getting your way, aren't you?" Shinji chuckled as he took his seat.

"I do try," Asuka replied, glancing through the menu.

Shinji observed his police partner. The sundress perfectly complimented her figure, and it made her breasts stand out. They weren't huge, but he'd seen much smaller in his time. And they were really well formed. All the while, Shinji's face had been down at this menu. He was sure Asuka hadn't noticed him sneaking a quick peek. And besides, if she dressed this way then he was entitled to an occasional glance.

"I think I know what I want," said Asuka. "You decided yet?"

"Yeah," Shinji replied.

"Do you want wine?"

"Not for me. I'm driving. I steer completely clear of booze if I'm driving or at work," Shinji replied.

"Fair enough," Asuka said. She was dying to ask a question but thought it would be inappropriate. However, her curiosity was getting the better of her.

"You know, I heard that you didn't want a partner," Asuka said, after the waiter had taken their orders. "Is this true?" Shinji felt uncomfortable with the question, hearing it from his partner. However, lying wasn't his thing. "If you want an honest answer, Miss Sohryu, then yes. I never wanted a partner," Shinji replied. "My opinion does change, considering I had only worked with rookies in the past."

"I see," Asuka said. "Well, to be perfectly honest myself, I never wanted a partner myself. They dragged my ass to Tokyo-3 kicking and screaming. My opinion can change as well, however."

"Well, now I know what Misato meant when she said you would be well suited to my style of work," Shinji said.

"She said that?" Asuka asked with a laugh. "Who would have thought two cops who don't want partners go so well together?"

Shinji was taken aback by her comment. "You…think we make a good team?" he asked.

"I think so," Asuka said truthfully. "I've never gotten along so well with a partner after two days. Have you?"

"No, I can't say I have," Shinji replied with a chuckle.

"There you go then," Asuka said, smiling to her partner.

Food arrived and the two chatted while they ate, mostly about everyday things. It was, for Asuka, a highly romantic environment. Their table was quite dimly lit, and beside them was the ocean. She smiled at the irony of the situation. He had simply asked her out on a friendly dinner, yet she was the one thinking about romance.

Despite what she thought, she wasn't ready for romantic involvement just yet, especially with another cop. The last time, it had ended with her boyfriend killed at the hands of some Yakuza thugs. She didn't want to go through that again, especially since Shinji had been so nice to her the past two days.

And it wasn't as if he wasn't good looking. He was. He looked physically strong and had eyes that deceived his 26 years of living. Asuka, at 25, would have sworn when she first saw Shinji that he was younger than her. However, from reading his file, he was 6 months her senior.

Asuka felt at ease with this man. Much like she had with her previous boyfriend, except with Shinji, there was something about it that she never felt before. Maybe it was because they were both so alike.

They had started on desserts, when Shinji's pager went off. "It's the office," he said. He excused himself before walked off with his mobile phone in hand. _Well, if it is the office, then it concerns me as well_, Asuka thought in annoyance. Shinji's face showed concern, but he was far enough away that she couldn't hear him speak.

He soon returned, having pocketed both phone and pager. "What is it?" Asuka asked.

"We have a hostage situation. It's at another major bank. I told them I'd be along, and that you would possibly be there," Shinji said.

"Well, why wouldn't I?" Asuka asked. Shinji smiled before leaving a waiter with a wad of money, instructing him to keep the change.

Once inside the car, Shinji handed Asuka a pistol. "It's better you having this than not," he said.

"Right," said Asuka, "although I don't exactly have anywhere to put it."

"Ah," Shinji said, forgetting that she was in a sundress. "I've got a holster in here somewhere as well. But first let's just get to the bank."

* * *

They arrived and found it was surrounded by squad cars. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," said an officer. Shinji flashed his badge and the officer let them through. He scanned the area before getting out. The two detectives headed to Detective Suzuhara, who was standing by the command vehicle. "Ah, nice of you two to show up," he said. "And Detective Sohryu, dressed for the occasion I see." 

"Don't even go there," Asuka said, shooting an evil glance at Toji.

"What's the situation?" Shinji asked.

"We have a crew inside, trying to perform a robbery. Some of our guys just happening to be patrolling outside. They investigated, only to leave with one injured cop and a bank full of bad guys. They have all the security people hostage. It's been like this for half an hour," Toji explained.

"You talked to them?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah. They're demanding either the money they claim is theirs or the heads of the people who stole from the Yakuza account yesterday in an hour. Otherwise, they start shooting people."

"They Yakuza, these guys?"

"They walk the walk and talk the talk. It's just, something don't seem right about them," Toji said.

Shinji nodded, and looked toward the scene, there were officers with sub-machine guns and shotguns poised on the bank. "Looks like we're gonna have to raid it," Asuka said.

"It does look that way; their demands are just too unrealistic," Toji said. "Our friends who stumbled on them in the first place say they've got automatic weapons, which is just peachy."

"Right," Shinji said. "Are we getting a special task force onto this?"

"As we speak," Toji confirmed. "Otherwise, we just sit and wait. Climb on in the command vehicle. You can get some coffee inside."

Asuka noticed that Detective Suzuhara hadn't been stealing any glances at her. She guessed that when he meant business, he meant business. "So is this the Yakuza getting revenge?" Asuka asked.

"Sure as hell seems that way," Toji replied. "In the last few years, there have been other large organised crime factions rising in contention with the Yakuza. With that, organised crime statistics have nearly doubled, leaving us a lot of cases with almost no closure. It's sure as hell made my job hectic. And the least I need are avoidable hostage situations."

Asuka nodded as Shinji handed her a cup of coffee. "They don't want the money," Shinji says. "They just want to send a message."

"That seems plausible," Asuka agreed.

"That's what the gangs are like. Trying to show each other who's got the bigger dick," Toji added sourly. Shinji looked over to Asuka and found she wasn't remotely offended. She obviously liked to play with the big boys.

"I guess we'll have to show them that the Metropolitan Police has the biggest dick of them all," Asuka said. Toji and Shinji looked at each in other in surprise, not expecting her to come out with something like that. When she turned around, Shinji and Toji nodded as if agreeing with her, hiding their surprise.

Soon, the task force had arrived, and were prepping themselves for a raid. However, the phone rang, and Toji picked it up, mentioning for the call to be recorded. "This is Detective Suzuhara."

"Bringing along more of your friends?" the bank robber said, in an electronically altered voice. "It that case, we'll get the party starting." He heard gunshots in the back and pleas from, who he thought were, the security personnel. "Shit! Get the task force in there, now!" Toji cried. "Damn, I think we're too late to stop them killing the guards."

"Toji, I'm going to go in with the task force," Shinji said.

"Right. Be careful buddy. They've got automatic weapons," Toji said.

Shinji was surprised to see Asuka had followed him out. "And where do you think you're going?" he asked sternly.

"I'm going in with you!" Asuka said.

"You said you've never been in gunfight before. This could get ugly. Those guys have automatic weapons," Shinji pointed out.

"Don't worry. I'm with someone who knows what he's doing." Shinji managed a smile for his partner, as he checked his weapon was loaded. He threw another two clips to Asuka, saying that she would need them. After suiting up quickly with body armour and with their weapons ready, they prepared themselves to enter the bank.

The task force entered and threw flash-bangs in all directions, only to come under fire. Immediately, one officer was hit and they returned fire. Shinji and Asuka entered the bank last and took positions behind cover. Their suspects had a high vantage point, which wasn't good. Shinji had taken liberties wtih a MP5 sub-machinegun and he had acquired one for Asuka. Still, it was nothing when faced with men armed with AK-47s.

Shinji looked up and took aim, releasing a short spray of bullets, taking out one of the suspects. Asuka watched him. He seemed so calm in this hellish situation. She managed to look up, but had to bring herself back behind cover as rounds landed right in front of her. _Shei__ße! What the hell have you gotten yourself into?! _Asuka screamed in her head.

She looked up again and saw on opportunity to take a shot and took it, ending the life of one of the men who had just nearly just killed her. It wasn't long before the last two of the assailants were killed by the elite task force. There was silence as smoke rose from the weapons. "All clear!"

"All clear!"

"Advance!"

They headed throughout the bank and to their dismay, found the bodies of five security guards, each with a bullet in the head. "Detective Ikari!" said the leader of the task force. "You won't believe this."

Shinji and Asuka entered the basement, only to find that one vault had been completely emptied. "There's no sign of this money anywhere in the bank?" Asuka asked.

"Not a trace. The vault, according this these records, was opened and presumably emptied before those two officers stumble upon this," replied the leader of the task force.

"Sheiße," Asuka muttered.

They relayed the news to Toji, who slammed his fist on the desk in the command vehicle. "Dammit!" he said. "So you're telling me they got away with the money before those first two officers arrived at the scene?" Shinji nodded, as Toji muttered another curse. "They were playing us," he said. "Trying to make a scene of the whole thing, just to emphasise the message."

"Sure looks that way," Shinji said. "Well, we've got to go. Try not to push yourself too hard, okay?"

"Sure thing," Toji said.

Shinji climbed into his car and waited for Asuka to follow suit. She looked visibly shaken. "You okay?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "I just didn't expect it to be that…"

"Chaotic?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, you handled yourself well out there. Better than me in my first gunfight, I'll admit."

"Really?"

"Honestly. I almost shat myself," Shinji admitted.

"That I can't imagine happening somehow," Asuka laughed.


	3. Witness Protection

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use

* * *

Asuka shot up to a sitting position, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. She looked around to find that she was in her bedroom. "Damn it…was I dreaming?" she muttered. Her night was dominated of the image of her holding a gun to a man's head. He laughed as she shot him and continued to laugh despite the blood pouring out of his exit wound. The laughing got progressively louder until it was unbearable. 

It seemed that this nightmare of hers was on loop for the entire night. She got up and started to run the shower whilst looking in the mirror. She looked like she usually did in the mornings, which was a relief. She made a point to ask Shinji about how he felt after he first shot somebody during the day, before slipping her nightgown off and stepping into the shower.

Fully dressed for work, she exited her house and headed out to her car. Compared to Shinji's car, her own, a Honda Civic, was very humble. However, it got her from A to B and that's all she needed. She turned on the radio and wasn't surprised to hear the news from last night. "…and the intense stand-off was ended when police raided the bank. However, their efforts to free the hostages had failed, as all the security guards were killed. This is just another in what is a shocking crime wave hitting our city. Commander Gendo Ikari of the Metropolitan Police made this statement:

"'This recent surge of crime in our city has come to a shock to us all. These recent incidents are just another in rising organised crime incidents. The Metropolitan Police has working at its utmost to track down those responsible for these heinous crimes and bring them to justice. We shall not rest until they are behind bars. Until then, I urge residents to take care on the streets; they are not as safe as we'd wish them to be.' Following the report…"

Asuka switched the radio off, hearing enough of the bad news. Traffic was pretty bad this morning and she was glad she left her flat early. She arrived at work to find that Shinji wasn't at his desk. There was another man standing at Shinji's desk instead. He had light brown, curly hair and had large round glasses on. He was shorter than Shinji and thinner as well but it was easy to tell the man was intelligent just from appearance alone.

"Ah, you must be Detective Sohryu," he said. "I'm Kensuke Aida, with forensics. I was meant to leave Shinji with a message, but I'm in a hurry, so am I all right to leave this info with you?"

"Yeah, sure," said Asuka. "What is it?"

"You won't guess where the bullets used by the bad guys came from," Kensuke said.

"NERV, right?" Asuka said.

Kensuke nodded his head, "Also, we have one CCTV tape. It shows these guys escaping out the back in a white van. Can't see any faces and the licence plate is blocked off. Still, it could prove useful, so I'm leaving this with you. Also, when we tried to identify the bodies of our bank robber friends, we came to a dead end. It's as if these people don't exist. That's all I have at the moment," he said.

"Thanks Aida. I'll make sure to tell Shinji when he comes in," Asuka said.

"Cheers for that," he said, before taking his leave.

_Jeez, what's with guys and staring at me! _Asuka thought, annoyed at Mr Aida stealing glances at certain parts of Asuka's anatomy. _Shinji doesn't do it! And if he is, he's hiding it pretty well! Jeez, men are idiots!_

Shinji soon walked in, with a sandwich in his mouth. Asuka giggled and the sight and despite having the sandwich in his mouth, she heard him say a muffled, "What?"

"Sorry, you just look so funny with that in your mouth," Asuka said, continuing to giggle.

"Thanks," Shinji muttered. "Sorry I'm late in. Damn traffic."

"It's all right. And by the way, your friend Aida from forensics paid a visit here."

"Right. And what was he saying?"

"That NERV bullets were used again by these bad guys. Also, we have a CCTV tape. I watched it and it's not much, but it's something," Asuka said.

"Okay," Shinji said. "This is pretty typical of the cases we're getting. Have the bodies of those killed in the gunfight been identified?"

"They tried, but Aida said it was as if they don't exist," Asuka replied.

"Typical," Shinji muttered, before taking a bite of his sandwich. "Well, all we can do is wait."

"Detective Ikari, Detective Sohryu, the Captain wants to see you," Maya said.

"All right. Thanks Ibuki," Shinji said, standing up.

They entered Misato's office and saw that she wasn't happy. Shinji hoped it wasn't at them. "Please, take a seat," Misato said. "So, how is the investigation going?"

"Not so well. We're coming up against dead ends, on all fronts," Shinji answered.

"Nothing from forensics, and any evidence we do have is useless," Asuka added.

"I see," said Misato. "Well, that wasn't the real reason I called you two in here. I was wondering how well you two were getting along."

Shinji was surprised. "What? You have no faith in us or something?" Shinji asked.

"No, it's just both of you have a history," Misato replied blankly.

"Well, Captain, I can assure you that me and Shinji are getting along fine," Asuka said.

"I see," Misato said. "On first name terms already?"

"It's imperative to our good working relationship," Asuka replied. Shinji smiled at that. "Very well, that is all," Misato said. After the two detectives had left the office, a smile curled around the Captain's lips. "I can't believe it…they actually hit it off," she said.

"I can't believe that's all Misato wanted to check!" Shinji laughed, when back at his seat. Asuka laughed as well with her partner. "She really has no faith in us two," Asuka agreed.

"I was hoping that she'd be surprised or something when we told her we actually were getting on!" Shinji said. "Oh well."

"By the way, we have reports to fill out," Asuka pointed out with a sigh. "And I've got to go to one of those police psychiatry things."

"Oh yeah. I had to do one of those after my first shoot out. They basically ask you about if you have any nightmares or thoughts about it and stuff," Shinji said.

This was Asuka's perfect chance to ask. "Did you?"

"Well, I had nightmares about it, but I felt no remorse. That guy got what was coming. The nightmares went away after a while and I guess I've been fine about handling myself in gun fights since," Shinji said.

"I see," Asuka said. "It's just that, last night, I had…"

"Nightmares?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry about it. It happens to people who aren't cold-blooded murderers. Real people have emotions and feelings and shooting at people, even bad guys, affects real people," Shinji said.

"Sure. Thanks for that," Asuka said with a smile.

It was then Shinji's mobile phone rang. The caller ID said, 'Restricted'. He answered it and said, "Hello?"

"Hello Detective Ikari. It's Kaji here. I did some digging and found out some interesting things. Meet me at the Central Park, next to the big fountain in 15 minutes."

"Right," Shinji said, hanging up. "Looks like Kaji found something out."

"He did? So we're going then?"

"Yup. We're meeting him in the park."

* * *

Shinji and Asuka walked through the park, which was pretty empty today because of the cold and overcast weather, placing a dreary atmosphere over the city of Tokyo-3. It felt like it was going to rain, just to make the two officers feel better. Shinji sipped a cup of Starbuck's coffee as he walked along, whereas Asuka decided against another cup. Sure enough, when they reached the large, central fountain of the park, they saw Kaji, sitting on the edge, smoking a cigarette. 

"Morning Kaji," Shinji said.

"Morning Ikari. Morning Sohryu," Kaji greeted, standing up and tossing his cigarette to the ground.

"So, what have you found from your digging?" Asuka asked.

"Not much. NERV has its ass pretty well covered. However, I found a link between NERV and something called the Marduk Research Institute. I'm not sure what Marduk do, but they are connected with NERV, and probably deal with ballistics technology. Also, I have a name," Kaji said.

"A name?" Shinji inquired.

"This person could be of some use. She has strong connections to both NERV and Marduk, according to what I found. Her name is Rei Ayanami," Kaji answered.

"Rei Ayanami, right," Shinji said, making sure he had the name in his notebook. "Thanks a lot Kaji. You didn't have to do this."

"Ah, hell, I haven't done something this interesting in a while," Kaji chuckled. "And I tell you what; I'm going to keep on digging, because a lot of this is intriguing and strange. If have anything new, I'll give you a call."

"Sure thing. Thanks again, Kaji," Shinji said, as the National Security Agent walked off.

The two were soon back in their car and headed off once again. Asuka typed the name into her laptop which was linked to the police database. She typed in 'Rei Ayanami' and was immediately given an address. "Bingo," Asuka said. "We have an address. I'm sending it to your SatNav."

"Good. Hopefully, this will be useful," Shinji said.

"It better be. It could turn out to be the only good info we have on this case," Asuka agreed.

* * *

They arrived at what was a very shoddy looking block of flats and wondered how anyone could bear to live in a residence like that. "Depressing place," Asuka muttered. 

"Tell me about it," said Shinji. "Well, let's speak to Rei Ayanami then, and see what she has to say." Asuka nodded as the two exited the BMW and headed towards the block of flats.

Once up to the sixth floor, they headed to flat number 68. Asuka rang the doorbell and it was answered by a woman, about their age and had a similar height and figure to Asuka. She had light blue hair that went down to her shoulders and interestingly, she had red eyes. However, it wasn't her eyes that struck Shinji about her. _Damn, _he thought, _she looks a hell of a lot like my mother_.

"Rei Ayanami?" Asuka asked.

"Yes," she replied quietly.

"I'm Detective Sohryu and this is Detective Ikari. We're here because our sources say you could have information that is useful to us," she said.

"I see," Rei said, nodding her head. "Please, come inside."

Shinji tried to hide his alarm as Asuka looked toward him and raised an eyebrow. Asuka immediately thought this woman was strange, due to the fact that she had shown no emotion at all in her face and remained impassive in voice.

Shinji and Asuka walked inside to find an apartment that was devoid of any luxury. There was no TV, no radio, nothing. Just an old sofa and a table sat in her living room and her kitchen was similar. "Would you like anything to drink?" Rei asked, again, remaining impassive.

"No thanks," Shinji answered.

The two detectives sat on the sofa as Rei pulled a chair from her kitchen and sat across from them. "Miss Ayanami?" Shinji asked.

"Yes, correct," she replied, confirming both her name and that she wasn't married.

"Our sources have informed us that you could provide us information on two organisations; NERV and the Marduk Research Institute," Shinji said.

Rei's eyes widened when Shinji said those two names. She obviously knew something. "I have information on them," Rei said. "But I have one request before I tell you anything; I request that you take me to your police station. There, I will allow you to question me freely."

"What?" Asuka said. "Are you saying it's not safe to speak freely here?"

"Hardly," Rei confirmed. "It will be much safer at your station."

Shinji and Asuka stood up, and Rei followed suit. "What poses a danger to you so that you can't tell us here?" Asuka asked.

"I…I cannot say," Rei replied. "Once I am at your station, I will explain all there." Asuka nodded as Shinji opened the front door.

And as soon as he did, gun shots ricocheted off the floor in front of him. "Shit!" Shinji cried as he leapt back. He pulled out his pistol and Asuka did the same. Shinji looked toward Asuka, and she immediately pulled out a radio. "This is Charlie 11, repeat, this is Charlie 11! We are under fire and request immediate backup! I repeat, we are under fire! Address is…"

As Asuka was calling for backup, Shinji had peered around the corner of the open door, to see three men in what looked like full military gear. They were fully dressed in black, wore balaclavas and had sub-machine guns. Shinji fired back and hit one of the men in the chest. The assailant stumbled backwards, but recovered quickly as if the bullet had done nothing to him at all.

Asuka had finished calling for backup and went to assist Shinji. "They're right there and they've got body armour!" Shinji yelled. Asuka peered around the corner, only to be forced back by a spray of bullets. "Shit!" she snapped. "How the hell are we going to do this?!"

"I don't know!" Shinji said. He moved around the corner and fired off three shots before moving back. He heard one of the men cry out. "I think I hit him in the leg," Shinji said. He checked his holster and found he only had one spare clip.

They were pinned down by what seemed like unrelenting fire. However, when they heard their magazines go empty, both Shinji and Asuka jumped out and emptied their clips into the men. They watched as the two standing men were both hit in the head as they were changing magazines. The one Shinji had hit in the leg was lying on the ground, groaning in pain. He suddenly started to reach for his hip holster, were a pistol was held..

"DO NOT TOUCH THAT WEAPON!" Shinji yelled. "IF YOU EVEN GO NEAR THAT, I WILL BE FORCED TO SHOOT YOU!"

"Fuck you," he replied, before promptly shooting himself in the head.

"Shit!" Shinji cursed.

"Are the other two dead?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Shinji replied. "It's still not safe though. There could be another ten guys on our way down."

They then heard someone running up the stairs. Shinji immediately yelled, "Stop! This is the police! Do NOT come any further!"

"Detective Ikari, it's okay! Hyuga here!"

Shinji blew a sigh of relief as he lowered his weapon. Lieutenant Hyuga and Lieutenant Aoba appeared with their weapons drawn. They looked at the three bodies and saw the two Detectives standing by the doorway of flat No 68. "Holy shit," muttered Aoba, looking at the blood spilling onto the concrete floor.

* * *

More officers arrived and Shinji and Asuka were escorted away from the block of flats toward their car along with Rei Ayanami. They had to describe what had happened to several other detectives after they had gotten Rei to sit in their car. After that, they headed off. "I think we need to get Miss Ayanami on a witness protection program," Asuka said. 

"That would be a very good idea," Shinji agreed.

As they reached their car, they saw Kaji exit a black Mercedes that had just arrived. He ran over to the two detectives. "Hey you two! I'm so glad you're okay!" he said. "As soon as I heard what was going on, I rushed out of my office to check on you."

"Thanks Kaji. We're fine," Shinji replied.

"I should have found out more. I never knew Rei Ayanami was being watched like that…"

"It's okay. Don't feel bad for something you didn't know," Asuka replied, with a smile. "And anyway, I'm with sharpshooter Shinji here."

Shinji blushed slightly and Kaji chuckled. "Well, it's good to hear you two are okay. Next time I find out something for you, I'll make sure to really find out. I don't want to lead you two into another death trap," he said. Shinji and Asuka nodded as he headed off.

* * *

They had Rei sat in the interrogation room and told her they would be with her shortly. "Sharpshooter Shinji, huh?" Shinji chuckled. 

"Well, yeah. I'm not that great at shooting," Asuka replied.

"You seemed to do all right back there," Shinji said, remembering his near brush with death. "Anyway, if you feel you're bad at shooting, I'll take you onto the range and show you otherwise."

"That'd be great," Asuka said. "Anyway, I think we have some questions for Miss Ayanami here."

They entered the room where Rei was treating herself to a cup of tea. "Hello there Miss Ayanami," Shinji said. "I think that we've already ascertained that you're in pretty deep into something and that something involves both NERV and this Marduk Institute. So, could you explain this?"

"My first memory came to me when I was in the Marduk Institute. I have no memories of anything before and I don't understand why. I woke up and I was inside this glass tube filled with a strange yellow liquid. I saw other people inside glass tubes as well I remember how I was let out and how the power just went out. That's when I ran away. I didn't understand why I was in that building but it certainly did not appear to have anything pleasant in store for me. I was in hiding ever since although I knew it would be just a matter of time until they found me," Rei said.

"That's some witness statement," Asuka commented. "What do you know about NERV and the Marduk Institute themselves?"

"I know NERV is a front for the Marduk Institute, acting as an arms dealer by actually legally providing arms. However, I don't know much about the Marduk Institute itself," Rei replied.

"Okay," Asuka said. "Is there anything else?"

"That's all I remember concerning both NERV and the Marduk Institute," Rei answered,

"I see," Shinji said. "Thank you. We will have you put under a witness protection programme in order to ensure your safety. That is all, Miss Ayanami and thank you again for your time."

Rei left the two officers to ponder over what she said. "That was short and sweet," Asuka noted.

"Miss Rei Ayanami knew what she had to say and said it," Shinji pointed out. "This is weird. Humans inside glass tubes…sounds like something out of a science-fiction movie."

"I don't know. I'm slightly sceptical of her story," Asuka said. "Seems too farfetched."

"Still, I think we need to pay NERV and this Marduk Institute a visit," Shinji said.

"Agreed," Asuka concurred. "Although I get the feeling we're getting ourselves really deep into something we don't understand."


	4. Showdown In Downtown Tokyo 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

"Captain Misato Kaji, do you have the report for the progress of the investigation?" Commander Gendo Ikari inquired. The commander of Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police always pushed his section chiefs hard and expected results. Many a good officer had been removed from their posts as Captains of police sections because Commander Ikari had been unhappy with the results of their work. That was why he liked Misato Kaji. She always immersed herself in her work and made sure that she did get the results she needed. 

Misato handed over the report which seemed very thin for a police document but contained all the facts that the commander needed. Gendo Ikari was not one for bureaucracy. If he wanted a report, he wanted it to be less than 5 pages long and to be as concise as possible. His time was valuable, especially in such pressing times.

Gendo skimmed through the document and frowned. "Is this all the evidence you have, Captain Kaji?" Gendo asked.

"Yes sir," Misato replied. "If you look at page 4, my investigations team found that some of their leads are of a more sensitive nature."

The commander flipped through to the page and read it through. "An arms manufacturer with government protection?" he asked.

"Correct. As you can see, all we have is a name. NERV," Misato explained.

"NERV?" Gendo asked, raising an eyebrow. "I've never heard of them, yet something gives me the feeling that I should."

"Along with NERV, we have a witness statement from a Miss Rei Ayanami linking NERV with something called the Marduk Research Institute," Misato added. "Her statement is on page 5."

Gendo read her statement and said, "That's some claim. Is there any way of substantiating this?"

"By going directly to NERV itself," Misato answered. "My team is going to investigate and they're working directly with my husband on this one. He's the one who got them the info on Miss Ayanami."

"Very well," Gendo said. "Anything to get this case solved quicker. Also, I've increased the number of patrols with heavily armed police officers."

"Roger that, sir," Misato said. "Do you want to discuss the new budgeting scheme for the next annum?"

"My apologies. I can't just yet because I have a meeting with Mayor Fuyutsuki," Gendo said. "We'll deal with that next week. For now, make sure this investigation runs smoothly."

"Yes sir, will do," Misato replied.

* * *

Kaji arrived at Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police Investigations Section Headquarters at precisely 10:00am. His appearance was rather rough for a man who upheld national security as he never had his tie up to his neck and often forgot to shave. This morning was no different as he headed towards the desks of Detectives Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Sohryu. 

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Morning Kaji," Shinji replied. "You ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Kaji said with a smile. "Am I all right to smoke in here?"

"Nah. Misato has a strict no smoking policy," Shinji replied.

"Figures," Kaji chuckled. "Where is she, anyway?"

"In a meeting with the police commander," Shinji answered. "You packing heat?"

"Do I need to?"

"We've been in far too many shoot outs for comfort. I would be much more comfortable knowing you were armed."

"Well, I do have my service pistol on me."

"All right. Asuka, you ready to go?" Shinji asked.

"Sure thing. Let's head out," the redhead replied.

* * *

The Commander of No 2 Metropolitan Police was sat in the back of a black Range Rover, waiting to arrive at the city hall to meet with Mayor Fuyutsuki. He had one such meeting every month just to brief the mayor on the state of police affairs. At the moment, it wasn't looking so good with the recent surge in crime, made all the more worrying because it was seemingly of the organised kind. 

As well as that, his mind was on other things. The photograph of the witness, Rei Ayanami, showed that she looked disturbingly like Yui Ikari, his wife. The resemblance was uncanny.

Whenever Gendo thought about Yui, he was always reminded of her death. She was killed in a horrific car accident 5 years ago and the news came as a shock to both Gendo and his son. Shinji had just graduated from the police academy when he heard the news, which destroyed a lot of the good mood following the graduation.

Gendo was there at the scene of the crash all those years ago. It looked like she lost control of the car at the wrong moment and rolled violently down a steep hill off to the side of the road at over 60mph. She had no chance inside and her body was crushed. Gendo was deeply saddened that he couldn't bear to look at the reports of her death.

However, when he did, there seemed something strange about her death and the more and more he looked at the evidence, the more it seemed that there was foul play concerning her death. Nobody else seemed to think likewise though, and the commander never expressed his wishes for an additional investigation to be made about her death. The official report stated mechanical failure of the car was the reason for the crash which ultimately led to death. Gendo didn't believe that one bit.

* * *

"Nice car," Kaji said from the back seat of Shinji's BMW M5. 

"Thanks," Shinji said.

"This is just his work car. You should see the car he actually owns!" Asuka added with a smile.

"The Merc? I've seen it. It's a real piece of work, that Mercedes," Kaji said. "A true German beauty. Shinji has a thing for German beauties, you know."

Both Shinji and Asuka blushed in embarrassment at Kaji's statement which caused the nation security agent to chuckle gleefully. They headed through the city toward the address that Kaji had provided for NERV. It hadn't been difficult to acquire and he immediately informed the two detectives so that they could be on their way to cracking this case.

* * *

The motorcade around the police commander came up against an unexpected halt. There was a traffic accident at a junction in front of them which wasn't serious but the cars involved needed to be towed away. _Great, _Gendo thought. _Now I'm going to be late for the meeting_.

* * *

"A traffic accident?" Shinji said in exasperation. "For Christ's sake! Some of us have a job to do!" 

"I feel your pain," Asuka growled. "We could be stuck here for a while and we can't reverse out unless those folks behind us are feeling kind."

"Not a chance of that," Kaji said, looking out the rear window. "Looks like we'll have to wait until they clear that mess up."

"Hey, look Shinji. A police motorcade. Reckon it's your dad?" Asuka asked, seeing police cars off to the left of the junction.

"Possibly. He does go about the town a lot. Places to see, people to meet, all that jazz," Shinji replied. "If it's him in that motorcade, he'd be pretty pissed off at the moment."

* * *

Gendo sighed in frustration, wondering how moronic the drivers involved had to be to crash at a junction with huge traffic lights. It really wasn't difficult. Stop at red. Go at green. As he leaned back into his seat, he never noticed the men in black outfits out in front, nor did he notice the weapon one of them was carrying. The next thing he knew, a massive explosion ensued in front of him and then everything went black.

* * *

"Holy shit!" Shinji exclaimed. "He just hit the motorcade with an RPG!" 

"Come on, we got to nail those guys!" Asuka said, watching as the assailants went around the escorting police cars and fired into them, killing the officers inside.

"Hold your horses! Call for back up first!" Shinji said. "Kaji, you can stay if you need to."

"Screw that, Shinji. I'm coming with you," Kaji said, releasing the safety on his pistol.

"I've called for back up," Asuka said. "Let's go!"

The three leapt of the car with their weapons drawn. "This is the police! Everybody clear the area! Get out of here, NOW!" Shinji yelled, trying to get as many civilians out of the area as possible. They ran down the left turn of the junction and found that the assailants were surrounding the car that they had attacked. There were other cars scattered everywhere as most of the civilians fled after the initial attack.

Shinji raised his pistol, took aim and shot one of the men cleanly through the forehead. The man collapsed backward, alerting the other 7 men there of the presence of Shinji, Asuka and Kaji.

As soon as Shinji had taken his shot, he was forced behind cover as the men began to spray them with automatic gunfire. "They've got AK-47s!" Kaji yelled. "We seriously need backup! We're outmanned and outgunned!"

"We can see that!" Asuka cried.

The three officers were pinned down behind a car and even that was very little protection. The 7.62mm rounds of the Kalashnikov easily penetrated the automobile they sought refuge behind. "Damn it, where's that back up?!" Asuka roared.

"There!" Shinji exclaimed.

One van with a police task force arrived and they were better armed to deal with the threat. However, their submachine guns were still not much compared to the AK-47s that their foes wielded. The task force quickly dismounted and 2 ran to the aid of the two police detectives and the national security agent. The other 4 set up in a defensive formation facing the assailants.

As they grouped up, their van was hit by an RPG. The driver was still inside. "Shit!" cursed the task force leader. "We've got ourselves in too deep on this one!"

"Too right!" Shinji agreed. "Do you have any better weapons? We only have pistols!"

The task force leader handed over two MP5 submachine guns and a twelve-gauge shotgun along with some extra ammo. Kaji took the shotgun while Shinji and Asuka wielded the MP5s. "Enemy is falling back!" reported one of the task force.

"Press onto their position!" ordered the leader. "Come on, let's go!"

The enemy had begun to move back under a curtain of gunfire. Despite wanting to move forward, the task force was still pinned down by covering fire. "Damn it! Their tactics scream military!" cried the task force leader as he ducked under more bullets. Shinji, Asuka and Kaji had moved behind another car but were not any closer to their foes.

They watched as two of the task force advanced forward to the 4x4 car that was hit by the RPG under covering fire laid down by the rest of the task force. They were trained for this kind of fighting. Shinji, Asuka and Kaji were not.

"We can't just sit here!" Shinji yelled as a bullet struck the glass windows of the car they hid behind.

"We don't have much choice at the moment!" Kaji yelled back. Two more of the task force advanced forward toward the left side of the street and everybody provided covering fire for their movement. However, one of the men advancing was struck in the head by a round, killing him instantly.

"Damn it!" cried the task force leader. "We need more support!" Their enemy had stopped moving back and formed a defensive line at a junction 50 metres downed from the junction they were at. "I hit one of the suckers but he didn't go down!" a task force member reported.

"Body armour! Aim for the head!" the leader shouted back.

"We need to move! We can't just sit here!" Shinji said.

"Agreed!" Asuka shouted. She peered above the bonnet of the car and saw a decent spot within the police motorcade. "We should move into that spot in the motorcade! We can get cover behind the police cars!" Asuka yelled.

"Good idea!" Kaji said. He turned to the task force leader and said, "We're moving into the motorcade! Cover us!"

"Roger that!"

The three jumped out into the open and sprinted for the cover of the motorcade. Bullets whizzed all around them and the gunfire seemed incessant. However, they did make it behind one of the police cars in the motorcade only to see a cloud of blood fly out above them. "Shit! Is someone hit?!" Shinji cried in horror.

"We're both fine!" Asuka yelled.

Shinji looked up and saw the blood had come out of the dead police officer inside the car. "Jesus," Shinji muttered. He had never been in a gun fight this intense before and the adrenaline in his body was rushing like mad.

In about 5 minutes, the task force had managed to move about 15 metres forward. They had lost one of their members. Another was wounded. "Got him!" cried the leaded of the task force as one of the assailants dropped to the ground. "They're down to 6!"

As the task force began to advance forward again, the enemy began to move back. "Keep moving forward!" the task force leader cried. Shinji, on the other hand, went to check on the car that was hit by the RPG. He peered inside and was horrified to see who was inside. It was his father, Gendo Ikari. Shinji couldn't tell if he was alive or dead, but he did know that if he was alive, he needed medical attention immediately.

At that point, the enemy was barely returning fire. "They must be low on ammo!" Kaji said, observing the task force advance.

"I hope so!" Asuka cried. The task force got closer and closer to the junction and when they did, they were met with a wall of gunfire. One of the task force was cut down in his stride by heavy assault rifle fire.

"Shit! They were trying to lure them in!" Kaji cried. The task force were pinned down again and in a much more vulnerable position. And their assailants weren't low on ammunition at all. The task force tried to fire back, but the 9mm rounds of the MP5 weren't so great in a situation like this. They either needed more firepower or more support, fast.

"Move around the right flank!" the task force leader ordered. "Set up a firing position…AAGH!" The task force leader collapsed on the ground with a gaping wound in his left thigh. The bullet had shattered his femur and he was experiencing the very definition of pain itself.

"They're getting slaughtered out there!" Asuka cried. "We need to help them!"

"Not so fast!" Kaji said. "More good guys are coming." They saw another two vans of men from the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police Paramilitary Task Force. The men inside this time were armed with M4 Carbine Rifles with Special Forces scoped sights on them. Two of the men were armed with sniper rifles.

The newly arrived task force immediately advanced forward to support their comrades and laid down heavy suppressive fire. The two snipers took up positions either side of the street. Shinji watched in amazement as each of the assailants were killed ruthlessly, one by one by the arrival of the more heavily armed task force. Before they knew it, this fight was over.

"Somebody get an ambulance!" Shinji cried.

"I'm a trained combat medic!" said one of the men in the task force. He ran up to Shinji and inspected the police commander inside. "He's still alive," the medic said. "He's got bad shrapnel wounds though and needs treatment badly. He's the lucky one as well, because the driver is well and truly dead."

"Can you treat him?" Shinji asked.

"I can give him morphine and put him on an IV drip. That's all I can do. This man needs a hospital," the medic replied.

Shinji was exceedingly worried about his father. He never imagined that he would be the target of such a vicious and brutal attack. "Is there an ambulance coming?" Shinji asked.

"Screw an ambulance!" said the medic after scanning the area. "Put him in the back of one of our vans. We'll take him to the nearest hospital!" Shinji nodded his head and wondered whether he would lose his only remaining parent today. The thought was too much to bear for him.

* * *

Shinji paced up and down the hospital corridor anxiously. Asuka and Kaji were sat down, worried for both the police commander and Shinji himself. It had been two hours since the hectic scene in downtown Tokyo-3 and Gendo Ikari had been in surgery ever since they arrived at the hospital. 

"I'm worried about Shinji," Asuka said.

"I am too. I just hope his dad pulls through, just to give Shinji hope," Kaji said. Asuka nodded and watched Shinji collapse onto a seat, away from both Kaji and Asuka. "I guess he wants to be alone," Asuka noted.

"He's been like that ever since his mother died," Kaji pointed out.

"His…mother?" Asuka asked.

"She died 5 years ago in a car crash. Ever since then, he's been self-driven to the point that he wanted no help from anybody else. When he's under pressure like this, he feels he can only get help from himself," Kaji explained.

"I never knew…" Asuka whispered. "Kaji…you know about my mother, right?"

"Yeah," Kaji replied quietly. "Listen, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't."

"It's not that…it's just Shinji and I…we're so alike," Asuka said. "I might have been younger when my mother died, but still, we've been through the same kind of experiences." Kaji nodded and looked toward Shinji, who had his head buried in his hands.

Then, a doctor emerged from the operating theatre. Shinji shot up to a standing position and looked expectantly at the doctor. "Mr Ikari, your father had several serious shrapnel wounds. However, after operating, he's in a stable condition. He'll pull through fine, I think," the doctor said.

"Thank you..." Shinji said, his voice barely a whisper.

"No problem at all. We're relocating him to an intensive care unit for the time being. When he gets moved to one of the regular wards, we'll inform you so that you can visit him."

"Okay, thank you for everything doctor."

"Just doing my job, Mr Ikari."

Shinji turned around to face Asuka and Kaji, who both had smiles on their faces. Asuka stood up and walked toward Shinji. She then wrapped her arms around him and enveloped him in a tight, intimate hug. "I know you're going through a hard time, Shinji," Asuka said, "but please, just hang in there."

"Thanks Asuka," Shinji said, with a light smile.

"Listen Shinji, if you want any time off from work…"

"No, there's no need. I'll keep on going with the investigation…for my father's sake."

Kaji stood and watched the two hug and whisper to each other and in his mind, he felt they were perfect for each other. He smiled to nobody in particular and turned toward the exit. "I'll just be heading off you two. Stay safe," Kaji said.

Shinji and Asuka broke off from their embrace and smiled toward the national security agent. "Sure thing, Kaji," Shinji said.

"See ya," Asuka added with a wave goodbye. Once the national security agent was gone, Asuka turned to Shinji and said, "Well, what now?"

"I think we should call it a day," Shinji replied, smiling to the redhead.

* * *

Safe in the knowledge that Commander Ikari was fine and in a stable condition, the two left the hospital and reported to the police station. Misato knew all about the day's events and told them that they _had_ to have a week's paid leave. Shinji and Asuka didn't want to be off for that long however and Misato managed to settle for a day. The two were then free to leave the station. 

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Asuka said, turning away to head to her car.

"Asuka…wait!" Shinji called out.

Asuka stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Shinji. "Yeah, Shinji?" she said.

"Would it be all right…if you and I…uh, spent some time together tonight?" Shinji said, the nerves apparent in his voice.

Asuka giggled and said, "Yeah, sure, why not?"

* * *

Shinji drove toward his flat which was in a fairly upscale part of Tokyo-3. The area was far from the scene of the massive shoot out downtown and the apparent calm hid the fact that they were living in a city at war. Shinji parked his Mercedes in his allotted space and led Asuka toward his block. Shinji lived on the 17th floor out of 25, so he had quite a trek if all the elevators decided to break at the same time. Thankfully, there wasn't much chance of that so they took the elevator up. 

Shinji opened the door to his flat and revealed his home to Asuka. "Wow, your place is pretty cool," Asuka complimented. The whole place screamed 'bachelor'. It had two bedrooms and a decent sized combined kitchen, dining and living room. Shinji's large Plasma TV and his black leather sofas were the centrepieces of his living room. Asuka could tell Shinji allowed himself quite a few indulgences.

"Make yourself at home," Shinji said.

"I will do!" Asuka said, throwing herself down on one of the sofas.

"You want some wine?" Shinji asked.

Asuka's intuition began screaming 'sleazy seduction' at this point but then again, after everything that happened that day, Shinji would just want to relax that night and what better way to do that than with some wine and a friend? "Yeah, sure," she said.

Shinji brought over two glasses and placed them on the table in front of Asuka. He then poured the wine before taking his own glass. "This is good stuff," Shinji said. "Got it for my 26th."

"Mm, it is nice," Asuka agreed. "You know, I never expected your place to be like this. I expected it to be…different."

"You didn't expect it to look like a bachelor pad, huh?"

"Yeah, that's exactly it."

"I guess that's just me screaming to the world that I'm in it alone."

Shinji tossed off his entire glass in one go before pouring himself another. "Shinji? Shouldn't you take it easy on the wine?" Asuka asked.

"No, I'll be fine," Shinji said. "I just…I just have a lot on my mind, that's all."

"I…I understand," Asuka said.

"Thanks Asuka," Shinji said. "Who ever expected today to turn out like it did?"

"I sure didn't," Asuka said. "It was…surreal at times."

"The gun fight I could handle. Seeing dead police officers…I could handle that. But seeing my father possibly dead before me…that was scary," Shinji said.

He took a large swig of his wine glass before setting it down in front of him. "Shinji…" Asuka said.

"I mean, I don't speak to my father that often anymore. He's become more of a commander to me, instead of a father. Yet, he was the only family I had left. Someone tried to murder him…someone tried to intentionally end his life."

"Shinji…please."

Shinji tossed off the rest of his glass and continued. "So people are not only trying to kill me, but they're trying to kill my father! And who knows where they will stop? I don't care if they kill me, but what if they try to kill Misato? Or Kaji? Toji or Kensuke? Or even you, Asuka? How would I feel then? Would I still feel that I have to do things my way, on my own? Would I still feel the same way then?"

"Shinji…please…you have to stop…"

"This whole world is full of bullshit. The moment you have some sort of emotional attachment to anybody, something will happen to leave you in the dust and ruin everything you thought was good. It happened with my mother. It almost happened with my father today. This could happen to fucking anybody, but it happens to me!"

"Shinji…"

"That's why I'm better off alone! If I have nobody to think about, then I can't possibly get hurt. That's why I don't want a police partner. That's why I started to drift away from my father after my mother died. That's why I'm single. I have to be alone! Being alone is the only way I can stop pain from reaching me. Can't you see Asuka? Can't you see?!"

"SHINJI!"

Asuka lunged forward and placed her lips over Shinji's. His eyes widened at the sudden embrace, but he soon melted to the touch of Asuka's lips. They both gave in to the embrace and wrapped their arms around each other as they kissed deeply and passionately. Shinji felt his heart race like he had never felt it race before. Asuka couldn't believe what she was doing, yet it felt so right.

They broke away from each other and Asuka looked tenderly into Shinji's eyes. "Shinji, I know you're hurting, but you've got to hang in there," she said quietly. "You can't let it get the better of you. You're better than that."

Shinji ran his hand through Asuka's hair and felt it was soft to the touch. "You're so beautiful," Shinji said. "Please…don't go."

"I won't go Shinji," Asuka whispered. "Shinji…are you sure you're okay?"

"I don't know, Asuka. But I can try and be strong. It's gotten me this far."

"You be strong, Shinji. You be strong."

They kissed again and this time, it lasted longer and was more profound. When their lips parted, Asuka said, "This feels so right, Shinji. I feel like I'm meant to be with you."

"I feel that way too, Asuka," Shinji said. "I just need somebody…I need to stop pretending that I can live all alone."

"Shinji," Asuka whispered. "Make this a night one to remember forever."

* * *

**Author's Note:** The shoot out scene in downtown Tokyo-3 was heavily inspired by the shoot out scene of a certain 1995 movie. A million points to anybody who can guess which movie correctly! 


	5. Day of Rain and Kidnapping

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

**Author's Note:** No one has guessed which 1995 movie inspired the massive shoot out in the previous movie right so I'll give you another clue. It stars Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. There! It should be easy now! And now on with the story!

* * *

Misato Kaji had received an unexpected promotion to temporary commander of Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police after the assassination attempt on Commander Ikari. Gendo had stated that he wished Misato to take over his post had anything happened to him and the deputy commander. As so it happened, the deputy commander was currently in the UK attending an anti-terrorist seminar which was of no use to Misato at the present moment. The Deputy Commander would only be returning next week.

The mayor had declared a state of emergency in the city and that meant that all police forces would be working on overtime. It also meant that the Japanese Self Defence Ground Forces would be patrolling the streets until a sense of calm was re-established. The state of emergency didn't really help Misato because she worked hellish hours already and with the added, if temporary, responsibility of being commander of all the police forces in the city, it would mean her working day would soon involve a working night as well. Also, there was a major bungle in that no one was assigned to take up the currently incumbent post of Investigations Section Captain. Misato would not let that go unattended so she would work both jobs, working wonders for her blood pressure.

She was reading through reports handed in to her from the Organised Crime Section and she was informed that the Yakuza had apparently taken responsibility for the assasination attempt. That was obviously a fallacy. There was no way the Yakuza would do something like that unless there was something incredible in for them. Generally, the Yakuza would go on with business as usual with the police being fairly laissez-faire about the issue as long as the Yakuza didn't rear its ugly head into the public eye.

Recently, several Yakuza bosses had gotten too big for their boots, hence the police crackdowns in both Tokyo-2 and Tokyo-3 plus an assortment of other Japanese cities, including Osaka, Kyoto and Yokohama to name a few. The police had been successful in the most part, apprehending or killing those Yakuza responsible.

Convention and common sense dictated that the obvious thing to do would be to lay low and to avoid attention after such incidents. The Yakuza weren't idiots. They were in the business of self-preservation more that anything else which made all claims that the Yakuza were responsible for the attempt on Gendo Ikari's life simply absurd.

This placed a lot of pressure on Misato to find who was really responsible and fast. However, it just so happened that she had allowed her main investigations team the day off today because of their involvement in the massive gun battle the previous day. That was just peachy for the woman, who wondered how she never took up smoking despite the amount of stress she went through on a daily basis.

* * *

Kensuke Aida was with Toji Suzuhara outside a Tokyo-3 morgue. They were stood just at the doorway as neither of them fancied getting soaked in the torrential downpour that was bombarding the city at the moment. "So you're telling me that none of these bodies belong to any known people?" Toji asked.

"Correct," Kensuke replied with a frown. "They're all male, Japanese and of quite a large build, the kind you'd expect from military commandos. However, no matter what we try, we can't identify these people and it's incredibly frustrating. And without an identity, you can't find a history, a life story."

Toji looked out to the rain with a frown creeping onto his face as well. "Well, that's just dandy, isn't it," he muttered.

"It's also incredibly suspect. All the bad guys that end up dead all have no identity," Kensuke added.

"That's just not right," Toji said. "However, we can't place the reason behind all of it. None of us have ever come up against a case like this."

"Yeah. I thought that last case was a bastard but this one has sure taken the cake," Kensuke said.

"Also, Shinji, Miss Sohryu and Captain Misato Kaji's husband were all caught in that shoot out yesterday," Toji informed his colleague.

"What? Seriously?" Kensuke asked.

"Yeah. They got out unscathed but you know how the commander was hit in that attack? I'm sure Shinji would have taken that quite badly," Toji added.

"I guess. I mean, we saw him when they told him his mum had died at the graduation ceremony," Kensuke said.

"Well, I guess we should pay him a visit, eh?" Toji suggested. "I heard he got today off."

Kensuke scoffed as he looked out at the rain and said, "Some day off."

* * *

Asuka awoke and yawned as she sat up. Looking around, she found she was in an unfamiliar bed and was surprised to find she had no clothes on. However, that surprise quickly subsided as her recollection of the night before came to her. She wondered why her memory had been vague to begin with, because she only had one glass of wine the previous night. Maybe she was just swept away in the ecstasy of the moment.

After realising the reason she was naked in Shinji's bed, the next thing she noticed was that Shinji was nowhere to be found. He had actually made his half of the bed and cleaned up before disappearing away. "Figures," Asuka said, knowing that in Shinji's current state of mind, he was possibly liable to disappear without warning. Maybe he needed some time alone, but Asuka was annoyed that she couldn't wake up to crawl into his arms. That kind of intimacy was something Asuka loved when she was with her previous boyfriend but after he was killed, she never thought she'd feel the same thing with someone else. However, Shinji Ikari was not just someone else. Asuka could see herself getting into a serious relationship with Shinji. However, at the present moment, Shinji was probably trying to face whatever he had to face on his own. Or maybe he was just in the living room.

Asuka raided Shinji's wardrobe and after putting on her undergarments, she put on one of Shinji's white shirts. It was large enough to cover the upper half of her thighs and decided that what she was wearing would be adequate. She ventured into the living room, hoping to see Shinji there or in the kitchen but was disappointed to find he was in neither. "Where the hell have you run away to?" Asuka asked in annoyance.

She walked into his kitchen to prepare something to eat when she noticed a note left on the kitchen table. She picked it up and saw that it read,

'Gone out to buy milk and a loaf of bread. Back soon.'

After reading the note, Asuka burst out laughing. _I can't believe that's the reason he's out! _Asuka thought. _I genuinely thought he had run away to face up to his demons alone!_

She was still laughing when she placed the note back down and saw that Shinji had cooked breakfast previously and had left a plate full for Asuka. _Well, it means I don't have to cook, _she thought, grabbing the plate and getting to work devouring the food on it.

The door bell rang just has Asuka began eating and she growled from being stopped. She got up, headed to Shinji's front door and opened it to see Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida. Asuka was surprised to see them, but the two were many orders of magnitude more surprised to see Asuka answering the door in Shinji's house with little more than a shirt on. Toji and Kensuke drew their conclusions pretty quickly. "I see," was the first thing Toji thought to say.

Asuka found this moment incredibly awkward but she managed to say, "Well, if I said it isn't what it looks like, then I would be lying."

Kensuke stood there, wide eyed, just nodded. "Uh, would you two like to come in?" Asuka asked.

"Um, yeah, sure," Kensuke said. "When's Shinji coming back?"

"Soon. He's gone to buy and loaf of bread and some milk," Asuka replied.

* * *

Shinji opened the door to his flat and walked in. He turned to lock his door and headed into the living room where he stopped dead in his tracks. Asuka was sat chatting to Toji and Kensuke in his living room, each with a cup of coffee in hand. Shinji was so shocked in fact, that he dropped his bag of bread and milk as his jaw fell wide open. "Uh, hey there Shinji," Asuka said.

"Don't worry," Toji said while laughing at his friend's expression. "Asuka's explained all."

"Oh," Shinji said.

"We came here to see if you were okay after the big shoot out yesterday," Kensuke explained. "Asuka answered the door and, well, you can kind of guess the rest."

"Yeah…" Shinji said, still incredibly uncomfortable with the situation.

The initial air of awkward but light hearted uneasiness soon dissipated and soon the four were going over what had happened the previous day. "So you guys saw the RPG attack itself?" Toji asked.

"Yeah," Shinji replied. "There was nothing we could do to stop the bastards."

"I'm just glad you made it out in one piece," Kensuke said. "Some of those task forces guys weren't so lucky."

"I never want to be in anything like that ever again," Asuka said. "It was just so tense, yet you don't have time to be afraid."

"That's three different shoot outs in three days," Toji noted. "I think it goes to show how serious what we're getting into is."

"And we're still no closer to solving this case," Shinji added. "I shouldn't have taken today off."

"You need it, after everything that's happened," Toji said. "Plus, you got real close to Asuka last night."

The redhead shot an evil look towards Toji and he laughed. Asuka had already explained before Shinji had arrived that they got together in a moment of need for both of them to have some respite from the tensions and anxieties of the time. And it seemed to have worked. "Well, we better clear away," Kensuke said. "You guys take it easy, all right?"

"And he means that in _all _ways," Toji added with a chuckle. Asuka shot another evil glare at Toji as they left the flat, leaving Asuka and Shinji alone.

"Well, I guess it's out in the open," Asuka said.

"Yeah," Shinji said. "I was kind of out of it last night, sorry for the outburst."

"It's okay, you don't need to apologise. I guess you needed to get that off your chest," Asuka said as she leaned forward to give Shinji a quick kiss.

"Jeez, how many days have we known each other? 5 days now is it?" Shinji asked.

"It's all I need," Asuka replied with a dreamy smile.

* * *

Rei Ayanami was nervous. She always was. She knew that she had men protecting her around the clock, but that didn't make her feel any safer. She had been moved to a different block of flats and had tried hard to live as normally as she could but she was full of anxiety. She felt like her next breath could be her last. _They_ had already sent men to kill her. What would stop _them_ from doing it again?

She was going through the simple task of grocery shopping today. For Rei, it was taxing trying to remain impassive and to try to hide the fear she genuinely felt. Everyone person that she walked passed could have been sent by _them_ to kill her and frankly, she did not want to die.

As she walked along the aisle filled with canned food goods, her mind began to wonder. She was troubled about her past. Not because of the events within it, but because she had no recollection of a past.

_What is my past? _Rei thought as she moved through the shop as if on autopilot. _What is in my past? Do I even have a past? I must have. I am a woman of 25 years; therefore I should have memories of those 25 years. Yet, my memory serves me only for one week. I can only remember the events up to last week. Before that; blank. It was as if I didn't exist before last week, yet this idea defies logic._

_What was before? There has to be a before, there has to be. There had to be something. However, no matter how hard I try, it is all blank. There is nothing. I have no past. And because I have no past, I don't know how to look forward. I am stuck in a perpetual present where all I have is fear and anxiety. I am alone. I am afraid. I have no past. Why is this? And why isn't the explanation obvious? _

Rei continued on and saw some flyers for car insurance. Normally, she'd ignore these as she couldn't drive but certain words were catching her mind. '…if you're involved in an accident,' part of the flyer read. _Car…accident? _Rei thought.

_What do the words' car accident' mean to me? _Rei wondered. Suddenly, she stopped. Her mind began to play flashing images and words. A face. A name. A cold winter night. Driving on a winding, hilly road. Speeding. Trying to get away. Trying to reveal a terrible secret. A loud thud. Out of control. Rolling. Falling. Death.

Rei found that she was in a daze and snapped herself out of it as to not draw attention to herself but these things her mind was playing were disturbing her. The name became clearer. She could see it in her mind but it took a while before it registered in her mind. _Yui Ikari, _Rei thought. _Yui Ikari. Why do I suddenly know this name? Who is Yui Ikari? What is her significance? Why do I hear her name and see her face?_

Rei then saw the image of a car violently rolling down a hill and the image of a woman crushed inside the wreckage of her car. _Yui Ikari died. She died in a car crash. But why do I know this? Why do I suddenly see all of this? I don't understand it at all._

She saw the image of the car driving fast down a winding mountain road. Then, she heard a noise which sounded like something hit the car and then the images of the car rolling down the hill repeated. _Somebody…somebody hit Yui Ikari's car. And it wasn't an accident. That person followed her and hit her car so that she rolled off the road to her death. Yui Ikari…was murdered. She was trying to get away, to reveal a secret. But why do I know this? I have no idea who Yui Ikari is._

The image of one of the detectives that saved her life then flashed in her head. His name was Shinji Ikari.

Ikari.

_Shinji Ikari…is Yui Ikari's son? Yet when I saw him, he was a stranger to me. I didn't know him. But now that I know Yui Ikari, I feel as if I should know Shinji Ikari as well. I feel as if…I should be close to him._

Rei closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. _But I don't understand why I know who Yui Ikari is! I don't understand why I know that Shinji Ikari is her son! Why do I know this? Why should I know this? How could I know this? I have so many questions in my mind yet there is no way that they could be answered!_

_Why is my mind so troubled?_

_Why am I burdened with this knowledge?_

_Why do I remember these things know?_

_Why do I exist?_

_Why?!_

"Are you lost, ma'am?" asked a shop assistant.

Rei turned around to face him slowly and said, "No…no. I was just caught in a daze, that's all."

"Oh, okay. Well, if you need any help, just give me a shot," the shop assistant said before walking off. Rei placed her hand over her forehead as she began to feel faint. "I need to get out of here," she said to herself.

* * *

Two police officers were tasked to watch Rei Ayanami as she was out shopping. They were ordered to keep their distance however as to be unobtrusive. The two of them stood outside in the parking lot of the supermarket where Rei was currently shopping. They were told she was a high priority witness which meant both police officers kept an M4 Carbine each in the boot of their unmarked police car. They stood there and waited, surrounded by large puddles left by the morning downpours.

They never suspected the two men to have gotten out of a white Toyota parked near them to be dangerous. They never suspected a thing as one of those men bumped into one of the officers. "Sorry," the man said to the officer before walking into the store.

"Incredible. This much pavement and that stupid bastard still walks into me," the officer commented.

"Yeah, some people sure are idiots," the other agreed.

"And don't get me started on…" the first officer began before stopping abruptly. He began to sweat profusely and found it difficult to breath. Then, he felt a pounding pain in his chest. "Huh? Are you all right?" the second officer asked. However, after he did, the first officer fell to his knees before collapsing onto the ground, dying from a massive heart attack.

"What the hell! Are you all right?!" the second officer cried. The two men that had walked into the shop previously had come out again. They saw one police officer knelt down beside the body of another. The two men looked at each other and one of them took out a knife. He approached the officer before stabbing him in the back of his head, where the spine meets the skull. This severed the spinal cord at its most critical point and killed the officer instantaneously.

The other officer had died because when the men walked passed, one of them jabbed the officer with a syringe full a lethal dose of succinylcholine which caused the officer to suffer muscle paralysis before suffering a massive heart attack. And by now, he was either dead or beyond the point of no return.

The two assailants covered their faces with balaclavas before entering the shop again and this time, they pulled out 9mm pistols. They shot anyone they saw, regardless of age or gender. The shop assistant that tried to help Rei Ayanami was just one murdered in their tracks.

Rei saw the two men and immediately resigned herself to her fate. However, the men did not kill her. Instead, one struck her on the neck as to knock her out instantaneously. The other picked up her body before leaving the shop and placing Rei in a seated position in the back of their car. The other officer raided the security office of the supermarket and removed all the tapes for the CCTV cameras. He then headed out to the car and the two drove away. The nearest police and military elements were too far away to react. Any witnesses were all dead.

* * *

Dr Ritsuko Akagi was summoned to the head office of the Marduk Research Institute. It wasn't uncommon for her to be there, but she felt uncomfortable being there at the same time. It wasn't a pleasant place to be and the overall atmosphere of animosity was enough to intimidate just about anybody. She entered the room and saw five black monoliths appear in front of her. Each of them said 'SEELE' and a number from 1 to 5 as well as the words 'Sound Only'.

SEELE 1 would be the only one to speak, the other 4 SEELE members being present just to hear what went on during the meeting. "Dr Akagi, we have recovered subject zero," SEELE 1 said. "It is your responsibility to perform her check up and see if she is ready for use."

"Yes sir," Ritsuko replied. She didn't really have a choice in the matter. They would kill her if she refused to do what they said and she was basically living as a slave. However, it wouldn't matter to anyone if she died. In the eyes of the world, she was already dead.

"Make sure things go as planned. That is all," SEELE 1 said before the black monoliths disappeared, leaving Ritsuko alone to continue her empty existence, working for faceless voices.


	6. Funeral For A Friend

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

**Author's Note: **For those of you who don't know already after the dead giveaway I gave out in the last chapter, the shoot out in chapter 4 was inspired by the movie 'Heat'. If you haven't seen the movie, then I would suggest watching it for the gun battle which is pretty damn awesome. Now, on with the story!

* * *

Another funeral. More dead officers.

Misato hated funerals because they just reminded her not only of the people who the funeral was held for, but it reminded of the people she knew that had died. The men killed since the beginning of this investigation died serving the people and upholding the law. Two officers were added to that list since yesterday after being brutally murdered. And after their murder, a key witness had been reported missing.

"Present arms!" ordered the Sergeant from the armed tasked force. He was dressed in full formal uniform along with the other 10 task force members who would be honouring their dead comrades. Gunshots rang through the air as the task force fired their M4 rifles. Misato stood still with her husband next to her. Kaji felt obliged to attend because these men had helped him to survive during that hectic shoot out. His expression was stern and his posture was rigid. He felt he had a debt of honour to pay to these men.

The funeral soon concluded and the people attending all went their separate ways. For Misato and Kaji, that meant venturing deeper into the cemetery. Misato paid a visit to her father's gravestone and lay flowers onto the cold granite of the grave. Both Kaji and Misato bowed their heads in respect before moving on.

Misato next stopped at the grave of a dear friend of hers. However, this gravestone was simply a marker. No body lay at rest below the ground. Kaji handed her another bouquet of flowers and Misato walked up to the granite marker with flowers in hand. She went down on one knee as she placed them down before standing up and taking a step backward.

"It's been three years," Kaji noted as he read the inscription yet again.

'Ritsuko Akagi.

Dear daughter, a loving friend and a wonderful scientist.

1981 – 2013.'

"Three years," Misato whispered. "Three years today."

"I know," Kaji said. "Killed in a plane crash full of scientists on their way to a convention in Shanghai."

"I was…I was horrified when I first heard the news. I mean, three years ago, everything seemed to be going right. I was engaged, I was recommended for a promotion and Ritsuko was in for a promotion as well. So when I heard that her plain crashed, I felt…emptied. I felt emptied of any spirit I ever had," Misato said.

"I miss her too," Kaji said, glancing toward the gravestone glint in the sun.

"And then, when our wedding came, I didn't have one of my best friends there," Misato added.

"Do you remember what we were like in university?" Kaji asked.

Misato chuckled lightly, "Yeah…those were the days back then. Not a care in the world apart from passing exams," Misato said. "The three of us would cause havoc on the Tokyo-3 nightlife."

"If I recall correctly, you nearly got arrested once," Kaji added.

"That idiot was asking for it. He touched my ass," Misato snapped "There just happened to be a police officer there when I smacked that guy's lights out."

The two of them looked at each other and smiled before turning around and began to head back down toward the exit of the cemetery. "When we remember Ritsuko, we always remember the good more than the bad," Misato said.

"That's how it should be," Kaji said. "Our memories should be a celebration of her life, not a reminder of her death."

"She didn't deserve to die," Misato said. "Not at her age. Not at her peak. She was really climbing up onto the prime of her career."

"Nobody deserves to die at that age," Kaji said. "Death plays a cruel game. We've been seeing that in the city for nearly a week now."

Misato shuddered on remembering the photographs of the crime scene from yesterday's slaughter at a Tokyo-3 supermarket. 12 people were killed, including the two police officers and the methods ranged from the brutal and cruel to the covert and sophisticated. Their adversaries in what was quickly turning into a war for the city had many ways to kill both the innocent and the upholders of the city's law and justice.

It was sickening for the woman to think about. There were men willing to kill anybody for their gains and to make that worse, they would blame their deeds on another. All blame had been pinned on the Yakuza in Tokyo-3, despite the fact that they had literally dug themselves as far underground as they possibly could after the death of one their main men.

All the signs would suggest that something else was behind these horrific events and the little evidence they did have pointed them in the direction of NERV and the Marduk Research Institute. That lead was going to be followed but due to unforeseen circumstances, ie: the shoot out in Tokyo-3, that route of investigation had been put momentarily on hold. Today, her main team of Shinji and Asuka would be back into action so she was hoping they would go and get on with their unfinished business.

"Honey, are you going with Shinji and Asuka today to continue their investigation?" Misato inquired.

"Yeah, I am," Kaji replied. "Why do ask?"

"Just wondering," Misato said. "Keep safe out there."

"Will do." As they exited the cemetery gates, Misato had an idea in mind to clear things up for good and possibly gain an aid into flushing out who was responsible for the many deaths and murders within the city.

* * *

The only dead thing about Dr Ritsuko Akagi was her hope. She lived a hopeless life, living each day simply for the purpose of not getting killed. Everyone in the outside world thought she was dead. The men behind the black monoliths were behind staging her death. This was after they had captured all the scientists leaving on that plane three years ago today.

SEELE, as they called themselves, forced her to work inside what they called the Marduk Research Institute. She was just one of many scientists who specialised in genetics and embryonic stem cell research that SEELE held captive. Some of those scientists tried to escape. They were caught however and brutally executed in front of all the other scientists as an example. Since then, nobody had attempted to escape again.

However, one of those scientists managed to commit suicide. And that scientist was Ritsuko's own mother. She remembered seeing her body slumped over her work desk with blood dripping off from the table onto the cold floor. She remembered seeing the smashed glass beaker and the deep gashes in Dr Naoko Akagi's wrists. There was no goodbye. Nothing. Just a pointless death.

After discovering her mother's body, Ritsuko remembered seeing the head man of SEELE himself in person. "Looks like poor mother couldn't take it," he had taunted. "Will precious daughter share the same fate?" Ritsuko's hatred ran incredibly deep for the man ever since he said that. And the fact that he used it as emotional blackmail made it worse. To take her own life seemed the only way out for Ritsuko. However, that man, the one who was in charge of SEELE taunted her for all she was worth. Ritsuko decided she wouldn't give in to him and found herself a purpose to live in what was an utterly bleak existence. Alogn with that, all the scientists there made so many revolutionary scientific breakthroughs but it didn't feel like they accomplished anything, because they knew their achievements would be used for what could only be described as evil.

Ritsuko struggled each day, trying to stay alive and trying to stay sane. However, as the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years, it seemed more like a hopeless endeavour. Ritsuko kept managing to go on though and her mind was suffering because of it.

She headed through the main corridor before turning right into a solitary containment room. Inside this room was 'Subject Zero'. Her given name was Rei Ayanami however. The woman was lying with her eyes open but not fully awake. "Hello Rei," Ritsuko said.

"Who are you?" Rei asked, not looking at the blonde.

"That is of no concern to you," Ritsuko replied.

Rei was afraid, yet she was not alone. She saw the fear in his blonde woman's eyes. She also saw the loneliness and the emptiness that this scientist experienced. It was blaringly obvious, simply from her eyes. Rei wondered why she was afraid. What was her reason to feel fear?

"Are you comfortable?" Ritsuko asked.

"I have no complaints," Rei replied. "But why am I being detained?"

"So you don't run away again," Ritsuko responded blankly. Rei frowned, but didn't say anything else.

"So, tell me Rei, have you had any memories of people, events and knowledge that you do not understand?" Ritsuko asked. The blonde then pointed to a machine off to Rei's left. "And don't bother lying because that machine will tell me whether you are telling the truth or not."

Rei weighed up her options and said, "No."

The lie detector beeped and a fluctuation appeared on the digitally projected graph. "I see," Ritsuko said. "What were these memories of?"

"That is of no concern to you," Rei said, echoing the scientist's earlier words.

"That is untrue. These memories of yours are my concern," Ritsuko said. "Now, I have alternate methods in which I can obtain your memories but it is much simpler and easier if you tell me."

"If my memories are going to be used for the harming of the innocent, then I would rather die," Rei said defiantly.

"If that is so, then we both die," Ritsuko said quietly, but just loud enough for Rei to hear.

"What…what do you mean?" Rei asked.

"We're both just lost souls trying to survive," Ritsuko answered. "We may have different backgrounds; yours is especially different. But, in the end, our goal in this twisted reality is to survive. If you give me what I need for now, then we both survive. If you don't, then we both die. We're just replaceable cogs in one giant machine. We don't want to be replaced before we are meant to. However, the people who maintain this machine don't have any sympathy. If there is one weak link, then that weak link is disposed of and replaced. It's that simple."

Rei remained silent but her gut instinct told her that this woman was telling the truth. Her life was on the line as well and they were just pawns in some twisted game of chess. Rei knew what had to be done. They waned to survive, so Rei would do everything in her power to remain alive.

"I remembered a woman, a scientist. Dr Yui Ikari was her name. I remembered seeing her murder. She was killed in her car while trying to run away from somebody for knowing a terrible secret. I also remember that she has a son. That is all," Rei said.

The lie detector remained still. "That is it?" Ritsuko inquired.

"Yes," Rei replied. The lie detector didn't move at all. "Very well," Ritsuko said. "That was all I needed…for now." Ritsuko stood up and made her way out and felt perspiration seep onto her forehead. Rei had seen right though her. Rei had looked right down into her soul. The feeling was incredibly disconcerting for Ritsuko, having spent the last three years hiding behind an emotionless and stoic mask. She wondered about Rei and why she was made the way she was. She also wondered whether she would be kept after she had served her purpose. The answer was probably no and it went for Ritsuko as well. As soon as her usefulness was gone, she would be disposed of. It was inevitable. However, Ritsuko had not given in just yet. She still had some will to survive left and she hoped it was enough. And with that, Ritsuko realised her hope was far from dead.

* * *

Kaji went his separate way from his wife as he headed to meet up with both Shinji and Asuka at the park before heading off again to try and track down both NERV and the Marduk Research Institute. Also, they had the kidnapping of Rei Ayanami to worry about as well. Kaji knew that her kidnap had to be related to NERV and Marduk if what she had said in her witness statement was true.

Well, Kaji guessed so much. Nobody could be certain.

He saw Shinji and Asuka standing at the big fountain as he had directed them to and approached them. He hoped that Shinji was feeling better after their time in the hospital. Kaji had heard that Gendo Ikari was out of intensive care and back into a regular ward which was reassuring news and hopefully Shinji would have heard the same.

The two saw him and waved the national security agent over. "Morning Kaji," Shinji greeted.

"Morning Shinji, morning Asuka," Kaji replied.

"Morning," Asuka said. "Nice to see the sun out for once, eh?"

"I know. Cloud and rain was never my thing," Kaji agreed.

The past few days gave the city nothing but overcast skies and heavy rain. Along with the bad weather, an unthinkable crime wave struck the city. Now, with the sun shining on their wishes of solving this investigation, they hoped that things would begin to change.

The three entered Shinji's car and headed off once again to the address Kaji provided them for NERV. This time, they made it through the city without witnessing a horrifying assassination attempt. There was a sense of calm about but the presence of the military gave the game away. All was far from well.

They drove outside the city of Tokyo-3 and began their way up one of the winding country roads that surrounded the city. According to Kaji's information, NERV was about 4 kilometres out of town and his information turned out to be reliable. When they first saw NERV, they wondered how anyone could miss it. It was a large factory which was, now that they had seen it, visible from Toyko-3 itself.

What struck them were the fences surrounding the factory. They were a good 3 metres high and were had coils of barbed wire lining the top of the fence. Not only that, but it was an electric fence as well. NERV was obviously security conscious. They approached the main gate which had a large guardroom along with armed guards who were obviously military. They pulled into the gate and Shinji switched his engine off as requested by the numerous signs around them.

One of the soldiers headed up to Shinji's car and Shinji rolled down his mirror. "Hello sir, do you have the correct permit to gain access?" the guard asked.

"I'm a detective from the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police. I have a search warrant for entering," Shinji replied.

"One moment please sir," the guard said.

He left to enter the guardroom before re-emerging with a file. The guard went up to Shinji's mirror again and said, "I'm sorry, but the special government protection instigated on these premises negates the effect of search warrants unless they are sanctioned by a senior government official," the guard replied.

Shinji was about to speak when Kaji said, "I'm with national security and I have reason to believe that this organisation could be indirectly threatening national security. I suggest you let us in."

"Could I see your credentials sir?" the guard asked.

Kaji handed over his badge and papers. However, the guard handed them back to him, saying, "I'm sorry, but you need official paperwork justifying that this is a threat to national security unless it is absolutely urgent which is probably not the case as there are only the three of you here. I would like to be of more help to you but unfortunately regulations and protocol do not allow me to."

"That's all right," Kaji said, knowing his attempt was a long shot.

Shinji turned his car around and found himself incredibly frustrated and annoyed, along with Asuka. "What now?" Asuka asked in annoyance. "They seem to have put up their impenetrable wall of Jericho."

"I will be doing more digging, I think," Kaji said. "You two, on the other hand, can be investigating the disappearance of Rei Ayanami."

"Fair enough," Shinji said. "I really wonder what NERV has to hide."

"I don't know," Kaji said. "But it sure as hell ain't good."

* * *

Misato waited for the cover of night before heading off deep into Tokyo-3's underworld. She knew this place well. This part of Tokyo-3 was a haven for all kinds of illicit trades, actions and organisations. This was prime Yakuza turf as well as being a hub for drug dealings and prostitution with fights, assaults and thefts being commonplace.

Misato knew this place well because she was here often on her way up the ranks as a rising star of investigations. Most crimes led to this place. This was one case however, that Misato was sure that this was not applicable. She wanted to know for certain whether the Yakuza had anything to do with the recent string of violence in the city.

As she drove through the dimly lit streets, she could feel the animosity of the area. She could smell the smells that triggered alarm bells in her head. And she could easily spot the illicit occurrences. There seemed to be hordes of prostitutes out and about along with the odd drug deal going on. It was hard not to spot such events.

Another problem was the disturbing lack of parking place. For an area of Tokyo-3 that was rock bottom in terms of desirability, the amount of cars seemed excessive. And for Misato's purposes, she needed her car parked in an easily accessible area for a quick getaway if necessary. However, she found just a spot and stopped her car before shutting the engine and pulling out the keys.

_All right Misato, _the purple woman thought to herself, taking a deep breath. _It's been a while since you've even thought about trying this kind of shit. Keep it together. You can do this! _

She took several deep breaths and could already feel her heart rate increase and the adrenalin pumping. Misato hadn't even gotten out of the car yet as well. After composing herself one final time, she opened the door and made sure that her pistol was snug in its holster, ready for use if need be. That firearm was her only friend. She had to come alone. Had she came with a large police force, everyone would have scattered and she would have never gotten the information that she needed.

She zipped up her jacket and headed toward the place known in this area known as 'The Bar'. There were many bars in this area but this one was special in that it was a known Yakuza hang out spot. She felt nervous as she approached it and looked around to check if she was being watched. However, she had to be sly about it, as to not give away that she wasn't meant to be in this place.

The front door of 'The Bar' was open and Misato walked inside, trying to stay casual and inconspicuous but as soon as she entered, heads turned toward her. She caught a few vicious glares from several of the men inside the bar. She proceeded undeterred and headed toward the barman. "You're not welcome here," he immediately said. "I suggest you leave."

"I need to speak with the boss," Misato said.

"The boss ain't speaking to anybody today," the barman said.

"I'm here on important business," Misato pointed out.

"I don't care. You better leave before I have you thrown out," the barman warned.

"Just tell the boss he has a visitor here on urgent business," Misato said. "After I speak to him, I won't bother you again."

The barman shot an evil look at Misato before disappearing behind a door. As she waited, she looked around 'The Bar' and saw the people inside, presumably the regulars, fitted in with the stereotype of the area. Many were your average scum, many were lower. Misato didn't like the feeling of being there and she blatantly stood out.

The barman returned, not looking any happier than when he first spoke to Misato. "The boss has agreed to see you," the barman said. "So go right on in. Don't feel welcome though, and don't even think about making yourself feel at home." Misato nodded curtly before opening the door that very few even contemplating entering.

As soon as she walked in she felt a gun pressed to the back of her head. "Search her," the man with the gun said. Two men went either side of Misato and performed a head to toe search of her. One of the men searching her found her pistol and pulled it out. "Intending on using this?" the man with the gun said.

"Only if I needed to," Misato replied. "Can you get that thing off of my head now, please?"

"As you wish," the man said. "You can pick up your gun after this meeting. Now, if you'll follow me. The boss doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Misato followed the man and was led to a table where a man sat, smoking a cigar. He was into his mid fifties and had a greying goatee. This was the man that Misato wanted to see. This man was in charge of the Tokyo-3 Yakuza and he held significant power on the streets of the city. Misato sat down across from the man and he looked up at her. _At least he acknowledges my existence, _Misato thought.

"So, I hear you're here on important business," he said.

"I am," Misato replied.

"First of all, I would like to know who I am dealing with. These are pressing times for us and I don't need any demons hiding under the guise of an angel, my dear."

_Wow, _Misato thought. _This old guy actually complimented me, in a round about kind of way. Maybe these Yakuza aren't as bad as they're cracked up to be. _"Well, if you want the honest truth, I am currently commander of Toyko-3 Metropolitan Police," Misato answered. That caused quite a bit of stir-up within the room. Suddenly, everyone was tense. "Settle down! Let the lady speak!" yelled the Yakuza boss.

Suddenly, silence. No one dared to go against the boss's orders. The Yakuza had a strict code and anyone who deviated from it one bit was punished severely. "So, you're from the police?" the boss asked.

"Yes, I am. However, I am here only to confirm one thing," Misato explained. "I'm sure you're aware of the recent attacks in the city and one of them turned into a massive gun battle in the middle of the city streets. Apparently, the Yakuza, you, have owned up to this. I need to know if this is true or not."

"What do you think, my dear?" the Yakuza boss inquired.

Misato didn't expect this from the boss of the Yakuza. He seemed to have a grandfatherly stature about him and despite all her pretences; the Yakuza did have a very strict honour code. "I don't think it's true at all. There was no way you'd be doing such things, especially after some of your members became too big for their boots," Misato said.

"And that my dear, is the correct answer," the Yakuza boss answered with a smile. "We didn't own up to this attack because we did not do it. Somebody is obviously trying to frame us. You are correct in saying we'd be laying low after some of our members began to use our name in vain for unsanctioned actions. And hence, here we are, laying low. Not being a nuisance to anybody."

"I see," Misato. "So somebody else is behind all of this."

"That somebody else is a somebody very powerful. They obviously have strong connections to get the weapons they have and their men appear almost paramilitary," the boss said.

"We need to get to the bottom of this and fast. Too many people have died already," Misato said.

"And their presence is bad for business," the Yakuza boss added. "I preferred the status quo of times gone past. Before some of our members thought they could get away with some of the things they did."

"I understand," Misato said. "I don't know if this is too much to ask, but I was wondering if you would be willing to assist in this investigation."

"Gladly, my dear," the boss said. He snapped his fingers and before Misato could blink, an aide had brought along a mobile phone.

"Take this phone," the boss said. "If I have any information, I will call you on it. It has no numbers stored on it and it has never been used. This is my means of getting to you without…unnecessarily giving away too much information."

"Right, I read you loud and clear," Misato said. She stood up and actually shook the hand of the Yakuza's head man in Tokyo-3. "Thank you, sir. It was a pleasure doing business with you," Misato said.

"I assure you, my dear, the pleasure was all mine."

* * *

Rei was struggling to sleep. Her mind was filled with images and words once again. She kept seeing different events in the life of Yui Ikari. And the more she remembered, the more it troubled her. She fell asleep, only to wake up in a cold sweat. She began to remember the people and the places that Yui Ikari knew. She saw into Yui Ikari's childhood. She saw Yui Ikari's adolescence. She saw Yui Ikari's time at Kyoto University. She saw Yui Ikari's marriage. She saw Yui Ikari give birth to her first and only child. She saw Yui Ikari die.

It was deeply distressing for Rei to see into someone else's life to such an extent. It was all the more troubling for Rei as she had no recollection of her own life. It was as if her memories had been replaced by the memories of Yui Ikari. That seemed impossible, yet it was happening and happening quickly. Rei struggled as she tried to force her eyes shut and try to keep the memories from tormenting her sleep. She wanted the memories to end. However, they would not stop. Then, Rei began to realise the horrible secret that Yui Ikari died for and from that point onward, she was certain that sleep would never come.


	7. Mr Nagisa

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

"We have reason to believe the police are beginning to move onto our scent," said SEELE 2. "Several officers and a national security agent had attempted to get into NERV. They were not able to enter due to the special protection we have instigated over NERV, but this is a most alarming development."

The five black monoliths stood still as the voice of SEELE 2 seemed to bleed into the air. The development was most alarming for the five men behind the monoliths. They had everything planned out and nothing was allowed to deviate from their plan.

"The police factor is an annoying one, but is one we can easily take care of," SEELE 3 said.

"It is not wise to underestimate them. The minute you do is the minute they land a bullet in your head," SEELE 1 warned ominously. "Do we have any other information?"

"Yes," said SEELE 5. "I have a source within the Yakuza who tells me that the commander of Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police had a meeting with the leader of the Toyko-3 Yakuza."

"The commander of the police?" SEELE 4 asked. "I thought he was seriously injured in our attempt to remove him from the playing field."

"This wasn't Gendo Ikari. This was the temporary commander, Misato Kaji," SEELE 5 explained. "Gendo Ikari is still in hospital."

"It sounds like this Misato Kaji is already proving a nuisance," SEELE 2 said. "If she's spoken to the Yakuza leader, then she would have discovered that they deny being behind the attacks in the city."

"If she believes them," SEELE 3 scoffed. "Can the commander of the police really trust a thug?"

"The leader of the Yakuza is far from a thug," SEELE 1 said. "He is a highly intelligent and capable leader. That is why he poses a threat. I propose we kill him."

"Agreed," said SEELE 5. "That sounds like the best course of action."

"And what about Misato Kaji?" SEELE 2 asked.

"We should kill her as well, just to be safe," SEELE 5 replied.

"Agreed," SEELE 1 said. "We will send out men as soon as they are ready."

"What about the status of subject zero?" SEELE 4 asked.

"Subject zero has recuperated and is beginning her recollections. As of yet, her recollections are of no use to us," SEELE 2 replied.

"How long until what we need begins to surface?" SEELE 1 inquired.

"With a few days, hopefully," SEELE 2 answered. "We have Dr Akagi working with subject zero."

"And she has reported that the subject is not ready for use just yet?" SEELE 3 asked.

"Correct," said SEELE 2. "However, this is only a matter of time. When she provides what we need, we can move onto phase 2."

"Subject zero's initial escape proved only a minor shortfall in our plan. She was quickly recovered and no time was lost whatsoever," SEELE 1 said. "We will progress. We will control this city."

* * *

The Yakuza boss was making his way to one of his favourite bathhouses in Toyko-3. It was Yakuza run, so nobody outside of the Yakuza was allowed in. It suited the boss just fine. He had been under a lot of stress lately and now that he knew that he wasn't a police target, he felt he could relax a bit and what better way to do that than the bathhouse?

His driver stopped his Bentley Continental outside the bathhouse and the Yakuza boss made his way inside. There wasn't anybody else besides the guard inside the house, which was understandable. He headed through the ornate surroundings with a new sense of peace of mind. He took it with him as he entered the bath and he savoured the solace of being alone in the steaming hot water.

The past few days had been a lot more hellish than the past few months. His Yakuza had been pinned with the blame of heinous crimes that he would never think to commit. To begin with, he had money stolen from his personal vault. That would demand retaliation, but then he had people claiming to be from his organisation robbing banks, killing police officers and kidnapping a police witness. He would never send his men to do such ludicrous things. That would endanger the very integrity of the Yakuza.

It didn't help beforehand that several of the more young senior members of the Tokyo-3 Yakuza went rogue and tried to bite off more than they could chew. Those men who did attempt that were either in jail or dead. There was a delicate balance in most cities concerning the Yakuza. As long as they didn't overstep their margin, the Yakuza could operate their business. As soon as they did, the police would become involved and that was when things got ugly.

He was glad that Misato Kaji went to see him personally. She was obviously a woman of honour and intelligence and she deduced that the Yakuza weren't involved in the recent crime wave in the city. That led to another question; _who was_? The Yakuza was the biggest organised crime section in the city and he could think of nobody who had the influence to compete. It seemed that it was a very good question indeed.

* * *

The bathhouse had armed guards at the doors to make sure anybody undesirable didn't get in. However, things were quiet as the boss was the only one inside. They did notice one man approach them however. He was about six foot tall and had peculiar grey, spiky hair and red eyes along with a wide smile. He wore a long, black leather coat that went down to about the back of his knees along with black trousers and boots. The guards turned towards the man.

"Excuse me, my name is Kaworu Nagisa. I was wondering where the Yamato Bathhouse was?" the man asked.

"This is it," one of the guards replied. "But you're barred from entering." The next moment, the man who called himself Kaworu lunged behind one of the guards and grabbed him. The other guard instinctively drew his weapon and fired. His round hit, but it hit the other guard in the chest.

Kaworu threw down the limp body of the wounded guard and revealed his own weapon; a silenced pistol. He shot the guard right between the eyes, killing him instantly. The other guard was barely able to breathe as he lay bleeding to death on the floor. Every breath was torture, as the bullet had pierced his right lung. He was quickly put out of his misery when Kaworu placed the pistol against the guard's head and ended his life with a strategically placed bullet.

Kaworu spun the pistol around his finger rapidly before placing it back in its holster. "I think I'll walk right in, thank you very much," he said with a smile. Kaworu sauntered through the building, admiring the various paintings and tapestries that were strewn about the different walls in the foyer of the bathhouse. "Art…like music, is a wonderful aspect of the human culture," Kaworu said. "Maybe I should help myself to some of these after I finish my job here."

* * *

The Yakuza boss glanced towards the guard who was standing watch at the entrance to his personal bath. However, the guard suddenly collapsed onto the ground after a clicking noise. "What the hell?" the Yakuza boss said to himself. He reached for a pistol stored beside the bath and made sure it was loaded.

A lone man entered the bath and the boss pointed his pistol at the grey haired figure. However, before he could pull the trigger, he felt and sharp pain in his right hand. His assailant had shot the pistol right out of his hand, taking his right index finger with it.

"I wouldn't do that," said the man.

"Who are you?!" demanded the Yakuza boss.

"My name is Kaworu Nagisa," he replied, "and a certain group of men I know don't particularly like you."

"If you're going to kill me, then just do it!" the boss snapped.

"I will get to that," Kaworu said. "However, I would just like to tell you that you have a wonderful collection of art here."

"Are you here just to taunt me?" the boss asked bitterly

"No, it is true appreciation of your collection. I find it very pleasing to look at," Kaworu replied with a wide smile. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes, the task of ending your life."

He lifted his pistol up and aimed at the Yakuza bosses head before pulling the trigger. The boss collapsed backwards into the steaming water which was stained red. Kaworu spun his pistol around his finger before slipping it backing into its holster. "Job done," he said, before about facing and helping himself to a few of the paintings that he found particularly engaging back in the foyer.

* * *

"This isn't good," Asuka said after looking at the scene of the murder.

"You can say that again," Shinji agreed.

The murder of the Yakuza boss of Tokyo-3 made for a very serious case indeed. Misato had informed them of her meeting with the Yakuza boss as soon as she had heard the news that he had been murdered so it seemed someone didn't like what the Yakuza boss had been up to.

Toji Suzuhara was on the scene as well along with the two detectives from investigations. "This is huge," Toji said. "And as well as that, it leaves many angles open for possible motives."

"Infighting within the Tokyo-3 Yakuza?" Asuka suggested. "Or even infighting between different city factions of the Yakuza?"

"That's a big possibility," Toji said.

"Or maybe even a rival organised crime faction that we don't know about," Shinji added.

"That's the wildcard," Toji pointed out. "But we can't rule anything out. As well as that, we're currently devoid of evidence."

Kensuke emerged from the scene of the crime with more bad news. "No prints, hair samples, nothing. No CCTV footage because the Yakuza don't generally have security cameras in their installations." he reported. "We do have bullet samples though, and guess where they come from."

"NERV?" Asuka said.

"Bingo," Kensuke said.

"So, we have no evidence, just a linking factor," Shinji said. "All bullets fired by the bad guys in this case lead back to NERV."

"That's the clincher," Toji said. "You guys tried already to get into NERV already, right?"

"Yeah, and they turned us away quite effectively," Asuka pointed out bitterly.

"It does look like we need to pay NERV another visit," Shinji said. "And I know just the man to get government authorisation for it."

"Who do you have in mind?" Asuka asked.

"Oh, you'll see," Shinji said with a smile.

* * *

The two police detectives waited outside the office of the mayor of Tokyo-3. "Do you really think this will work?" Asuka asked.

"I'm doing this on a wing and a prayer," Shinji replied. "So I have no idea."

"Idiot," Asuka said with a light chuckle. Asuka moved in closer to Shinji and they held each other in a tight hug. "Once this whole investigation is over," Asuka whispered in Shinji's ear, "you need to take me out to the fanciest, most expensive restaurant in town for dinner."

"I would love to," Shinji whispered back. "But what's in it for me?"

Asuka pulled Shinji in even tighter and said, "Oh, you know what's in it for you."

Shinji smiled and Asuka smiled back in a very seductive manner. Shinji felt something every time Asuka looked at him and was sure from the way Asuka looked that she felt the same. It was a feeling Shinji never felt before but at the same time he could place it and he knew what it was. Shinji Ikari was falling for his police partner. Asuka had been unsure whether a relationship with Shinji was the best thing or not but as they spent more time with each other away from work, she found herself falling for Shinji as well. It felt as if they were always meant to be and Asuka took fate very seriously.

The two managed to keep their hands off each other as the mayor's secretary appeared. "The mayor is very busy today but I can…wait a second. Asuka? Shinji?" the secretary said.

"Hikari? Hikari Horaki?" Asuka exclaimed. "My god! I haven't seen you since high school!"

The two women ran up to each and embraced each other in a hug. It was an obvious indicator that the two were very good friends at high school. "Jesus! It's been years Asuka!" Hikari said.

"Tell me about it! Oh, we need to get together some time!" Asuka said.

"Sure thing! And hello to you Shinji," Hikari greeted.

"Hey there, Hikari," Shinji replied.

"You two know each other?" Asuka asked.

"I know him through my fiancé," Hikari explained.

"Oh, and who's the lucky guy?" Asuka inquired.

"You might know him," Hikari said. "He's in the police as well. His name is Toji Suzuhara."

"What? Him?!" Asuka blurted. "You're getting married to him?!"

"Yup. Wonderful, isn't it? We've been engaged a few months now," Hikari said in an almost dreamy voice.

"Well, congratulations, Mrs Suzuhara to be!" Asuka laughed. "I can't wait for the wedding!"

"You're on top of the list Asuka!" Hikari said.

Shinji stood back with his hands in his pockets before clearing his throat quite distinctly and loudly. Asuka turned around and shot an evil look at the man who smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, Hikari, we are here on business," Asuka pointed out.

"Not that," Shinji laughed. "Where's my wedding invite?"

"Oh, you idiot!" Asuka said, laughing as well.

"You have to come Shinji! It goes without saying!" Hikari said.

"Good. Now that we've cleared that up, we can talk about business," Shinji said with a smile.

"We would like to speak to the mayor on an urgent matter, Hikari," Asuka said.

"He is really busy," Hikari pointed out. "But I think he has a meeting cancellation just now. I will speak to him about letting you two in. Wait here a second."

Shinji looked over at Asuka who seemed to be beaming with happiness. "What were the chances of that?" Asuka said.

"I could have told you that Hikari Horaki was the mayor's secretary and that she was getting married to Toji," Shinji said. "But I never knew that she knew you."

"Small world, huh?" Asuka laughed.

"Yeah, I know," Shinji agreed.

Hikari soon re-emerged with a smile on her face. "Yes, the mayor did have a meeting cancelled just now so he would be happy to see you," Hikari said.

"Great! Thanks a lot Hikari," Shinji said.

"Sure thing! It's my pleasure!"

The two detectives made their way into Mayor Fuyutsuki's office and found him sitting behind a large oak desk. "Welcome officers," he greeted. "What can I help you with?"

"Good afternoon, sir," Shinji greeted. "As you may know, Detective Sohryu and I are conducting an investigation of a most complicated nature. We had little evidence. However, we do have one very strong lead in a Tokyo-3 based arms manufacturer known as NERV."

"NERV?" Fuyutsuki asked. "I've never heard of it."

"Most of us hadn't before we began this investigation. The connection we have between all the events leading up to know in the city is that all bullets used by the criminals in question were produced by NERV. It's all we have at the moment. However, NERV has special government protection," Shinji continued.

"Special government protection?" Fuyutsuki mused. "That certainly seems odd. Anyway, carry on."

"Thank you sir. Even with a search warrant, we are prevented from actually entering their facility and questioning the people within NERV. We were informed that our search warrant needs to be sanctioned by a senior government official. And hence that is why we are here, sir."

Fuyutsuki leaned back in his seat and rubbed his chin in consideration. "Well, you certainly provide a strong argument," he said. "Normally, due to the bureaucratic procedures of my position, such a sanctioning might take weeks to come through. However, the city is still technically in a state of emergency. That allows me to take more drastic measures and provide you with what you need by tomorrow."

Shinji and Asuka both smiled. "Thank you, sir!" Asuka said.

"No, thank _you_," Fuyutsuki said. "You two officers are doing a stellar job for our city and for that, you have my thanks." Shinji and Asuka both stood up and Shinji went forward to shake the mayor's hand. "Detective Ikari, I'm glad your father is alive and recovering," Fuyutsuki chided. "I know it must be difficult for you, especially after what happened to your mother but you are doing a brilliant job. Remember that."

"Sir…how do you know about my mother?" Shinji asked.

"Your father and I go way back," Fuyutsuki replied. "Now, on you go. I'm sure you're much busier than I am."

"Thank you sir," Shinji said with a beaming smile.

* * *

Night fell over the city and Misato Kaji made her way home in her Nissan 350Z. Her driving was fairly reckless and she speeded on a regular basis. Her love for fast, zippy cars didn't really help her driving at all. She also owned a vintage car; a blue Renault Alpine A310 which she still loved to drive, recklessly of course.

She arrived to her two storey home in a Tokyo-3 suburb. The area was generally a middle class family area and it was quiet and comfortable, which was all Misato needed. She parked her car in her drive in roughly a straight line on the second attempt; on the first attempt she managed to annihilate some of her neighbour's foliage. She cursed to herself and made a mental note to apologise to her neighbour in the morning as she exited her car.

She opened her front door and found that the nanny was still in. "Hello Miyuki. Sorry I'm late," Misato apologised.

"Oh, it's fine," chuckled Miyuki, the nanny tasked to take care of Misato and Kaji's 3 year old child when they were away at work. "The little one was a dear the whole time. He's asleep upstairs."

"Thank you again Miyuki," Misato said.

"It's my pleasure, Misato. Have a good night."

Misato went through to her kitchen and indulged in a can of Yebisu beer. She leant back on her fridge as she flicked the can open and took a long gulp. "The days aren't getting any easier," she muttered. She took another drink out of her can and then heard her door open. "Must be Kaji," she said.

However, it wasn't Kaji. A man wearing a balaclava and a full black outfit appeared in her kitchen doorway. In his right hand was a pistol with a silencer attached. Misato felt no urge to resist. She knew that she couldn't reach her gun in time. She simply raised her can of beer to her lips and took one final sip.

Misato heard a gunshot and then lowered the can from her lips. However, she shouldn't have been able to lower the can as she should have been dead. She looked toward the doorway and saw the body of her would-be assassin slump over with a bullet wound in the back of his head. Standing behind with a gun in his hand was Kaji.

Misato smiled and said, "I…I love you." Kaji run towards Misato and hugged her tightly. "I can't believe that…that…that I almost lost you," Kaji said.

"Thank you," was all Misato said. Her can of beer slipped out of her hand and hit the tiled floor as the realisation began to kick in for Misato that she could have just been killed. Kaji didn't know whether it was fate or luck to give him the chance to save the life of his wife but whatever it was, he was incredibly thankful. However, this case that Misato's department was running was getting far too close to home for comfort.

* * *

"There has been a failure in the elimination of Misato Kaji," reported SEELE 2. "The circumstances of the failure are unknown."

"This is unfortunate," SEELE 1 said. "Her elimination would have been useful. A second attempt would prove difficult considering the extra security she will be under now."

"If you tasked me to kill her," said Kaworu, standing in front of the five monoliths, "the job would have been done and done right."

"Enough Tabris!" snapped SEELE 3. "Your arrogance has no place here. We would rather you did not speak at all."

"Well, I would rather you not refer to me by my original designation of Tabris. It's a tad archaic, would you not agree? Nagisa, Kaworu, or even Mr Nagisa will do just fine," Kaworu said with a smile.

"Silence…Tabris," said SEELE 1. "Your presence here is not required."

"Yes, as you keep reminding me," Kaworu pointed out.

"We need to be more direct in order to keep the police off of us," SEELE 5 said.

"It will not be long until subject zero provides us with what we need," SEELE 2 said. "I feel patience is all we need."

"I think we need direct action," said SEELE 1. "I have reports that the police went to the Mayor to gain access to NERV. Tabris, when they enter NERV…kill them."

"Gladly," replied Kaworu.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Just some useless trivia. The Renault Alpine A310 in blue was the real life car Misato drove in the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series and Yebisu Beer was the brand of beer in which she overzealously indulged in and unresponsibly fed to Pen-Pen, much to Shinji's horror and Asuka's disgust.

Pen-Pen probably didn't mind though.


	8. Mr Nagisa Part II

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

Shinji had a busy day ahead of him today. However, he had something he needed to do before he did anything else today. He was alone in his BMW M5, listening to Beethoven as he drove. It was the 9th Symphony, arguably Beethoven's most famous work apart from maybe his 5th Symphony. Shinji was a cello player himself and held a great appreciation for classical music. He was also fond of Baroque era music and he loved to play some of Bach's works on his cello, such as Prelude in C Major. If there were something Shinji could do to pass his time without thought, it was either listening or playing classical music.

The music helped Shinji to keep a level head as he drove towards the Tokyo-3 Infirmary. It was a strange mix with the blending of the uplifting choir and orchestra coming out of his car speakers and the heavy rain pattering on his car. Shinji used to enjoy listening to the rain tap against his window until the day of his mother died. It was raining that day when he graduated from the Tokyo-3 Police Academy and ever since then the rain just reminded Shinji of his mother's death.

However, the rain did nothing to dampen Shinji's mood. The strength of the music was greater than the percussive and rhythmic patting of the rain against his car. His mood was optimistic. Today, after he visited his father in hospital, Asuka and he would both go to NERV once again, this time with the means to go on in. Kaji would not be accompanying them this time because he said he had a special assignment to deal with at the moment which was fair enough.

Shinji slowed his car down and pulled over as an ambulance came roaring past his unmarked police car. It was heading toward the same place he was, albeit much more quickly. He wondered what emergencies the doctors at the hospital would have to deal with from that ambulance. Something serious. Possibly life threatening.

It had not occurred to Shinji just how brittle mortality was. He could have died in any of the shootouts he had taken part in over the past week. One bullet, aimed at the right spot, could end his life there and then. Yet, it was not his own life that he was concerned about. He was more concerned for his fellow officers, Asuka especially. And all too often he was reminded what it was like when the life of a loved one was on the line. He remembered what it was like riding in the back of the Task Force police van with his father barely hanging on to his life. That had been another reminder by how easily life could have been taken away. However, it had also been a reminder of pure luck. The driver of Gendo Ikari's car had been killed instantly. Gendo Ikari survived. Call it fate or luck of the draw; it still engaged thoughts inside Shinji's mind.

Shinji finally arrived at the hospital and parked in a multi-storey parking complex just adjacent to the Tokyo-3 Infirmary. He was glad to be out of the rain which had made a sudden return that morning and was back with a vengeance. There was also a typhoon warning for that afternoon, which would really ruin his day. He had a job to do and Shinji found it frustrating that the weather could so heavily impede their progress.

Another thing that Shinji never liked was hospitals. He never liked the feeling of waking up and looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Shinji had undergone minor surgery before when he was much younger and he hated the queasy feeling after waking up following an operation. He hated feeling that way as he stared at a ceiling he didn't know. It had been years since he had ever been in hospital for surgery but that feeling still resided whenever he stepped foot inside a hospital. It was so ironic that a place meant for healing the ill could give him such bad feelings.

Shinji approached the reception on the fourth floor and said, "Hello there. I'm here to visit Gendo Ikari. I'm his son, Shinji Ikari."

"Ah, yes. I'll just check where he is…yes. Walk down that corridor to your right and stop at ward 4B. He's in there. As far as I am aware, he is conscious and doing very well," said the receptionist.

"Thank you very much," Shinji said with a smile.

"It's my pleasure."

Shinji walked down the corridor and moved out the way as a patient was portered past him. Shinji didn't see the face of the young woman, but it was obvious she had been in a car accident. Just another casualty in the daily motion of life and its cycles. Human civilisation had progressed incredibly far but in the end, there was still basic struggle to survive. And like that it shall remain, it seemed.

Shinji arrived at ward 4B and entered slowly and cautiously. He looked around and found there was only one bed inside. In it was his father, who was wide awake and smiled when he saw his only son. "Hello father," Shinji greeted.

"Hello Shinji," he said.

"It's good to see you well father," Shinji said.

"It's good to be alive, Shinji, I'll tell you that," Gendo said with a light chuckle.

Ever since Shinji's mother died, he had become distant from his father. It was Shinji's own doing and he couldn't trace exactly why he had distanced himself from his father, but people do crazy things when they go through something like lose a loved one. Shinji had been incredibly close to his mother and that most likely had played a big factor.

"How are you feeling?" Shinji asked.

"It's still painful, but I am very thankful to be alive," Gendo replied. "I just want to get back on the job."

"I can understand that," Shinji said.

"Is it true…about the attempt on Misato's life?" Gendo inquired next.

"Yes, it is. She told me about it. The assassin looked her in the eye but her husband arrived home and killed the would-be assassin in what could only be called the nick of time," Shinji explained.

"That is worrying," Gendo said. "Everything about what is happening in this city is truly worrying."

"Yeah, I know," Shinji agreed.

"Are you going to NERV today, Shinji?" Gendo asked.

"Yes father. Asuka and I are going to get to the bottom of whatever they have to hide," Shinji said with determination.

"Be careful. Something tells me that not all is right about NERV," Gendo said. "When I first heard about them, the name sounded familiar to me. So did the name Marduk. It just couldn't quite place it."

"You know about NERV and Marduk?" Shinji asked.

"No, not really, but I did remember one thing. Your mother was head scientist at Marduk before she died," Gendo revealed. "I only remembered this as I was recovering."

"She was head scientist at Marduk?" Shinji exclaimed. "I knew she worked for a big genetics firm, but I never knew what it was called."

"It was Marduk indeed and Marduk is connected to NERV in some way," Gendo added. "Listen Shinji. I never told you this but I don't think your mother's death was an accident. I believe that someone planned her death. She was murdered and I am sure of this. It is my request that when you go to NERV and Marduk eventually that you find out what really happened to your mother Shinji."

"Yes father," Shinji said. "I will do that for you."

"Thank you son. I want to know for sure," Gendo said.

"Also, father, I am sorry for almost becoming a stranger to you ever since mother died. I didn't realise what I was doing and…"

"Shinji, don't worry about it," Gendo interjected. "We all have our own ways of dealing with hard times. I am just happy to have spoken to you properly for the first time in a while. Shinji, you're a very good officer. Remember that. Remember your training. Remember that you have a partner who will watch out for you back."

"Yes father, I will."

"And get yourself promoted to Lieutenant for God's sake before I kick your ass."

"Will do, dad," Shinji replied with a wide grin.

* * *

Misato Kaji sat inside her office, sipping a cup of coffee. The events of the previous night kept running on over and over in her mind. She wondered how a lone gunman could have just waltzed into her house to kill her. It was a scary thought to think that their enemy was willing to try something so tenacious. And there was nothing stopping them from trying to pull a stunt like that again.

There was a knock at her door and Misato said, "Come in." Detective Asuka Langley Sohryu entered the office and took a seat in front of Misato's desk. "Can I help you, Detective Sohryu?" Misato inquired.

"I was just wondering if you were okay," Asuka replied.

"Well, I really don't know," Misato said. "It still hasn't really dawned on me that I could have died yesterday."

The commander of the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan police looked over at the young redheaded officer and saw her face had an expression of concern. "Well, I'm just glad you're okay ma'am," Asuka said.

"You don't have to call me ma'am. Misato will do just fine," said Misato. "You know, Asuka, I haven't really had a chance to properly speak to you and I do like to know and get on with my officers. How is everything?"

"Well, I can't complain. Shinji and I have really got our hands full with this case but I'm sure we'll pull through," Asuka said.

"It's just the fact that you've been involved in many shootouts since you got transferred. I would say you got much more than you bargained for," Misato pointed out.

"It's okay. I'm with Shinji and he knows how to shoot a gun," Asuka said. "As long as I am with him, I'll be fine."

"Sounds like you've grown quite attached to your partner," Misato said with a grin.

Asuka blushed at the mentioning of attachment to Shinji. "Don't worry," Misato said. "I've heard the rumours and I know they're true. As long as you two can keep off of each other on the job, then I'm not particularly fussed."

"Thanks Misato," Asuka said. "I guess we couldn't really keep it a secret."

"No you couldn't. Not from me anyway," Misato chuckled. "To be honest, I think you two make a cute couple."

"Aw, thanks Misato," Asuka said with a smile. "I've barely known him for a week, yet everything just feels so right with him."

"You've struck love gold," Misato said. "Some of us are blessed to have that. I found it when I met Kaji all the way back when we were in university."

"I guess so," Asuka said. "You know, I just wish this investigation would just hurry up and finish."

"Don't we all?" Misato agreed. "You and Shinji are doing a brilliant job of it so far, so it will soon all be over. The sooner the better as well. Things are changing for the worse in the city and I don't like it one bit. Let's hope that once this is all done and dusted, we can look forward to some peace in this city."

* * *

Shinji and Asuka found themselves bound for NERV for the third time. The first time they had tried, they were halted in the middle of the city by assassins before becoming involved in a massive gunfight. The second time, they had been turned away because they didn't have the means to break through NERV's government protection. This time, they did have the means to get in and they fully intended to use it.

Shinji took his time on the road up to NERV as the rain had only gotten heavier as the day progressed. His windscreen wipers were set to full and he still struggled for visibility. "I wish it wasn't raining," Asuka groaned. "I can't see shit."

"And you're not driving," Shinji agreed. "I never liked rain anyway."

"Easy to see why," Asuka said.

There was standing water in the various dips of the road which splashed off the road when Shinji drove through it. The wind was beginning to pick up as well which didn't make driving any easier for Shinji who found it hard enough with the poor visibility from the rain.

They eventually arrived at the gate of NERV and found that there were guards outside despite the torrential downpour. Shinji reluctantly rolled down his window when the guard approached. "Hello sir!" the guard shouted, trying to be heard over the sound of the rain and wind. "I'm afraid this area is off limits to anybody except authorised personal!"

"I'm from the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police!" Shinji yelled as his face was exposed to stinging raindrops. "I have a search warrant sanctioned by the mayor of Tokyo-3!"

Asuka handed Shinji over the warrant which the guard inspected and scrutinised. He found it to be completely authentic. "Head on in officer!" the guard shouted. "Sorry for any inconvenience!"

Shinji rolled his window up and raised his hand in thanks before hastily making his way into the complex. "Well, we've gotten further than we've ever gotten before with this place," Shinji noted.

"Third time lucky, I guess," Asuka added. Unfortunately, for the two of them, all the parking was outdoors which meant they had to brave the rain to get into the buildings. Shinji stopped his car and switched it off. He looked toward Asuka and said, "On the count of three, let's bolt for the door."

"Right," Asuka agreed.

"One, two, three!"

The two literally leapt outside the BMW before shutting the doors and running for cover. Shinji made sure his car was locked before joining Asuka under the shelter that the doorway provided. The door was an automatic door which opened for the two officers to enter. Once inside, the found that the interior of the building looked incredibly military. There were several metal doors around them in the lobby and all had red markings painted on them. "Not exactly what I was expecting," Asuka said.

"Where is everybody?" Shinji asked. "There's nobody here."

"I don't know. Maybe we should go through one of these doors," Asuka suggested.

"Okay, but which one?"

"The one right in front of us," Asuka said.

"Fine. Let's go."

The two headed through the automatic metal door and found themselves in a large, open warehouse area with crates scattered all around. However, there was a complete absence of people. Shinji didn't like the feeling he was getting from the place. He felt the need to have his weapon in his hand, but held back.

Asuka, on the other hand, began inspecting some of the crates. However, she couldn't read what was labelled on it as it was written in Cyrillic. "Hey, Shinji, give me a hand opening this crate up," Asuka said. Shinji looked about and found a crowbar lying on top of another crate and handed it to Asuka. She went to work right away on opening it and forced the wooden top off. She was taken back by the contents of the box.

"Guns?!" Asuka exclaimed. Shinji moved to examine what was inside and found the crate packed with Kalashnikov assault rifles. "Jesus…there must be at least twenty in this crate," Shinji said.

"Are they AK-47s?" Asuka asked.

"Not quite," Shinji said. "AK-103s, a much more modern version of the AK-47. And I'm sure a lot of these other crates are packed with AK-103s as well."

"There must be fifty of these crates here," Asuka commented. "It looks like someone's preparing for a war."

"Sure as hell looks like it," Shinji agreed.

Shinji walked around the crates and found most of them to have Russian writing on the top of them. However, one of the crates was different in size and had English writing on it. "I wonder what's in this crate," he thought aloud. "Asuka, could you pass over that crowbar?"

"Coming right over!" Asuka said, handing the tool over to Shinji. He then began work on opening the crate and once opened; found it to be full of L85A2, or SA80, assault rifles, all attached with AG36 40mm grenade launchers.

"How the hell did these guys get their hands on British assault rifles?" Shinji asked.

"I have no idea," Asuka replied. "Hey, this crate's also got English markings on it." They investigated that crate and found it to be full of M16A4 assault rifles with M203 grenade launchers attached. "American assault rifles?" Asuka said. "This really isn't a good sign."

"These guys have an entire international arsenal," Shinji noted. "Where are they getting these weapons from? And why are they getting these weapons?"

"All very good questions," Asuka said.

"Asuka, I think you should call for backup," Shinji said.

"Backup? Why? There's nobody here," Asuka pointed out.

"There's enough weaponry for a small army here. If a small army comes to collect it, then we're in trouble," Shinji insisted. "Call for backup, Asuka."

"Okay, will do."

Shinji looked about and found crates full of fully loaded SA80 magazines adjacent the crate of SA80s and crates full of loaded M16 magazines next to the M16 crates. There were many more crates filled with loaded AK-103 magazines. _This is bigger than we'd ever imagined. We would have never thought that they would have stored so many weapons here, _Shinji thought. _What are you hiding NERV? And why are you protecting Marduk?_

Shinji helped himself to an SA80 and loaded a magazine inside the assault rifle. It was fairly heavy, but the sights on the rifle were impressive. "I've called for backup," Asuka said. "They should be here shortly."

"Good," Shinji said.

"And what do you think you are doing with that gun?" Asuka asked in an annoyed tone.

"A souvenir," Shinji replied blankly.

"You're unbelievable," Asuka sighed. However, she eyed the crate of M16s. "It doesn't seem that bad an idea, actually," she said as she loaded an M16A4 and admired the American firearm.

"Take some extra ammo," Shinji advised. "I don't have a good feeling about this place."

"Whatever you say," Asuka said, as she stuffed several extra M16 magazines in her pockets. They felt as if they were going to fall out and the magazines were also annoying heavy. "This isn't too comfortable," Asuka moaned with the magazines protruding from her pockets. "What's giving you such a bad feeling anyway?"

"I don't know," Shinji replied. "But I don't think we can take this place lightly."

* * *

The noise of the rain falling masked the sound of the helicopter landing on the roof of the NERV building. The main doors were opened and four men stepped out, all armed with AK-103 assault rifles. One of the men was Kaworu Nagisa. "Sachiel, Zuruel, Bardiel, let us go," Kaworu ordered. The three other men nodded their heads and they headed for the door into NERV. Once inside, they cocked their rifles and switched off the safeties. "It is time, my brothers," Kaworu said. "There are two here which the committee want us to eliminate. There will probably be more police as well. We shall kill them all without prejudice."

The four ran down the stairs from the roof and began to search the top floor with their weapons drawn. They found they were not there and systematically searched each floor until the only floor that remained was the ground floor. "They must be on the bottom," said Sachiel.

"Then let us go, brothers," Kaworu said.

* * *

"How's it going?" asked Toji Suzuhara as he arrived at NERV along with one unit of Toyko-3 Metropolitan Police Paramilitary Task Force officers. "Take a look for yourself," Shinji said. "Guns and lots of them."

"Holy crap," Toji muttered. "Are we fighting an organised crime syndicate or an army? Jesus Christ!"

"My thoughts exactly," Shinji agreed. "What's also worrying is that our friends have acquired both American and British weapons."

Both Shinji and Asuka held out their weapons to emphasise their point. "All right," Toji said. "So these guys have connections. Big connections."

"Damn right," Asuka said. "Feel free to help yourself, by the way."

"I might do," Toji said. "Meanwhile, I say we continue to scan the building."

"Agreed," said Asuka. "Let's go."

The three detectives began to move up towards the door at the other end of the warehouse with the task force several steps behind them. However, as they did, they heard footsteps from behind the door. Shinji raised his rifle and Asuka followed suit. Suddenly, the door flew open and gunfire rained down at them from the doorway. Shinji shoved Asuka out of the way behind the cover of a wall to the left while Toji tried to throw himself out of the way to the right behind a crate. However, a 7.62x32mm round struck him in his left hip and immediately brought him to the ground, writhing in agony. Bardiel smiled when he saw the officer go down.

"TOJI!" Shinji cried as the Task Force began to open fire on their assailants. All hell broke loose as Shinji found himself having to avoid both friendly and hostile fire.

"Covering fir…argh!" was the cry from the Task Force leader as a round struck him in the shoulder, smashing his shoulder blade into pieces.

"Officer hit!" yelled another Task Force officer. They fired back with their M4 Carbines but found that the enemy was returning fire highly effectively, not allowing the Task Force to fire in a co-ordinated manner. The four assailants laid fire down unrelentingly and they reloaded individually whilst the other three continued to fire as to allow them to almost continually keep firing.

A Task Force officer broke away from his cover to try and get a shot at the enemy. As he took aim, a hail of bullets went his way. Three rounds struck him in the head and two hit him in the neck. The officer collapsed backward, dead. "Damn it!" cursed the second in command of the task force. "These guys are lethal!"

Shinji had managed to stay out of the way so far with Asuka but decided that if he didn't do something, he would be dead meat. As he moved, Asuka cried, "Where are you going?!"

"To take these guys on," Shinji replied.

"Shinji…don't! Let the Task Force deal with them!" Asuka said.

"They're getting slaughtered, Asuka! I have to help them! I have to help Toji!" Shinji shot back.

"Don't Shinji! I don't want to lose you!"

"You're not losing me Asuka. Not today. Not any day."

Shinji leaned around the wall and place the head of one of the attackers in his sights before firing a quick three shot burst. He saw the man go down but had to move as gunfire was then directed in his direction. "I nailed one of the sons of bitches!" Shinji said. He then watched in horror as the Task Force was reduced to four when another of the officers was fiercely shot at with rounds going everywhere on the upper body. Shinji saw the blood begin to stain the floor where the task force were. He then looked toward Toji and the blood that was leaking out of the wound in his left leg. Toji had managed to drag himself behind cover, which was a relief, but he still required support.

* * *

"Sachiel is dead," said Zuruel.

"His death is insignificant. He can be replaced." said Kaworu. "Continue fighting."

"Yes, brother," said both Zuruel and Bardiel.

* * *

Shinji was wishing that he had the grenades for the grenade launcher attachment for his SA80. The three remaining assailants were cutting down the Task Force to shreds. Another Task Force officer had been wounded when a round struck him in the right shin, bringing the Task Force down to three fully capable officers.

"Screw this shit," Asuka cursed. She ran out behind a crate with gunfire closely following her; a round barely missed her back. She then leaned out to the right of the crate and fired a burst before having to retreat back behind the crate. She then ran for cover behind the wall as the 7.62mm rounds began shooting chunks out of the crate she had sought cover behind. She made it, just as rounds smashed off the wall, sending fragments of concrete flying off into the air. "I got one," Asuka said.

"Just two left," Shinji said.

* * *

"Zuruel is dead," Bardiel said.

"Let him be," said Kaworu. The grey haired man rose from behind his cover and fired three aimed bursts. Each burst struck the remaining Task Force members. Two of them were hit in the head and were dead for sure. The third was hit in the neck and he was probably awaiting death if he wasn't already dead.

Kaworu smiled as he reloaded what was his third clip. Bardiel continued to lay fire down on the wall to their right. As soon as Kaworu finished reloading, Bardiel did so as well. After he did, he said, "I will go forward and kill those last two myself."

"Be wary," Kaworu warned.

Bardiel stepped forward slowly in the new found silence of the warehouse. The only noise to be heard was the groaning of the injured Task Force officers. Bardiel smiled as he heard their pain and their suffering. It brought him joy to have killed some of those men. He was still smiling when he peered around the wall where he suspected more officers to be. He wasn't smiling anymore after a dozen 5.56mm rounds entered his chest, face and neck, ending his existence of violence.

* * *

Shinji and Asuka watched as the rounds they both fired sent the blood of the man flying into the air. They watched as bullets tore through his face, disfiguring it as they killed him. His chest and neck had red, round holes where bullets had penetrated through him while his face was a gruesome, sordid sight with facial bones shattered and gun shot wounds laying waste to his face. Asuka found it hard not the throw up there and then at the spectacle.

* * *

Kaworu began to move back as soon has he saw Bardiel killed before his eyes. He knew he was outnumbered and most likely outgunned. He knew that he stood a good chance of getting kille but if he died, he would die fighting. He watched as two officers appeared from behind the wall. He opened fire but missed.

* * *

"Damn it! The bastard is shooting at us!" Asuka cried.

"Screw it! We have to get to Toji!" Shinji urged. The two began to run again and were again fired at as they reached Toji but both managed not to get hit. "Toji?! Are you all right?!" Shinji cried.

"Don't worry…about me…," Toji said slowly, his breathing heavy, "get…get that bastard…go…GO!"

Shinji and Asuka both nodded as they went to get the last of the attackers. Shinji laid down covering fire as Asuka moved off away from the left wall. Asuka then fired as Shinji moved to where Asuka was. Shinji then reloaded as Asuka fired off the last few bursts left in her first clip before reloading herself.

* * *

Kaworu began to move back to the door as he was fired at. He would attempt to make it to the roof to see if the helicopter would pick him up. However, he would need to eliminate these two officers first. He fired as he moved back into the doorway before turning around and running up the stairs.

* * *

Shinji saw their assailant run up a set of stairs and fired a spray of bullets from his SA80. However, their enemy had just made it and avoided getting struck. "Come on! We have to go after him!" Asuka cried. Shinji nodded and they both ran towards the door. However, they had to be incredibly careful as they made their way up the stairs as the bad guy could have been lurking around a corner, waiting to get a cheap kill.

The two made it up one level without spotting anything. Then, gunfire struck the ground just inches away from Shinji's feet. "Shit!" Shinji cursed. "That bastard's up there! He's going up!" Asuka aimed her weapon upward and fired a burst, trying to scare him out of shooting again as Shinji moved up the stairs to the third floor, followed closely by Asuka. Shinji then fired a burst as Asuka moved in front of him to the fourth floor before moving himself up the stairs. It seemed the assailant was no longer in the mood for fighting back.

* * *

Kaworu was still more than raring to fight. However, he was down to his last magazine and he needed to save his ammunition. He continued to run up the stairs, ignoring the gunfire coming from before and made it to the top. He opened the door and made his way out onto the roof where he was greeted by the heavy rain. He then turned to face the open door, poised the fire at anybody who tried to get up onto the roof with him. He saw heads appear and fired half his magazine to no avail. He then decided to move away from that doorway, heading to his left towards the far edge of the roof.

* * *

Shinji and Asuka barely managed to dodge the rounds that came flying towards them as they were progressing up the final flight of stairs. However, the gunfire stopped and they were able to make it to the door that let them out onto the roof. Shinji peered out the doorway to be met with a burst of rounds. He lurched back, before Asuka leaned out and fired a burst towards the enemy. The assailant fired back before a clicking noise was heard, indicating an empty magazine. "He's empty! Let's go!" Asuka cried.

Both Shinji and Asuka leapt out into the pouring ran and pointed their assault rifles at the grey haired individual with red eyes. The man smiled and said, "It appears I have run out of ammunition."

"Who the fuck are you?!" Shinji snapped.

"I am Kaworu Nagisa," he replied. "A certain group of men I know would have preferred that you two were dead."

"What the hell?! Who?! Who are you talking about?!" Shinji yelled.

"They are men who would prefer not to be known," Kaworu said with a wide grin.

"Tell us! Now!" Shinji ordered.

Kaworu just began to laugh, causing both Asuka and Shinji to tighten their holds on the trigger, getting ready to fire. Shinji gritted his teeth as he placed Kaworu's head in his sights. "In my coat, there is a pistol," Kaworu said. "When I retrieve it, I will end my own life. However, as soon as I reach for it, you will kill me. Either way, I will die. And either way, I am not telling you two shit."

Kaworu reached inside his coat and true to his word, pulled out a pistol. However, he pointed the pistol at Shinji and Asuka, forcing the two detectives to open fire. The 5.56mm rounds battered the body of the assailant and brought death upon him immediately. The blood from his body mixed in with the rain that covered the roof like a sheet. "Holy shit," Asuka said. "What the hell was that all about?"

"Toji," Shinji said. "We have to get Toji to help!"

"Right! Let's go!"

* * *

Misato frowned deeply when she saw the state of crime scene. There were more dead officers. More blood. More dead ends.

They thought that this would be a turning point in the case. However, they had uncovered nothing except a massive weapons cache. All the office blocks had nothing in them. The only thing they did find was a manifest which only gave them more bad news. All the weapons inside the warehouse were only a quarter of the weapons that were meant to have been stored in that place. That meant the other three quarters were in the wrong hands. There was only bad news.

The good news was that both Shinji and Asuka got off unhurt. That was little more than a consolation price, however. The two detectives seemed incredibly lucky that day as every other officer involved was either wounded or killed. The obvious bad news was that they achieved absolutely nothing from today's events. They only thing they had learnt was that a certain group of men were masterminding all these events. However, that was it.

The deeper they got into this case, the more they didn't understand it. Shinji and Asuka gave Misato a name for the man dead on the roof; Kaworu Nagisa. However, their bodies gave nothing. These people weren't on any records at all, even health and dental records. It was unnerving to think their enemies had amassed so many weapons. It was all the more chilling to think that they had people that they could send who simply did not exist. How these people were pulling this off remained a total mystery. None of it made sense. More to the point, none of it seemed right.

* * *

Toji Suzuhara opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling above his head. He felt a dull, numbness in his entire left leg. "Where…where am I?" he asked.

"Toji?" asked a voice that Toji knew so well.

"Hikari?" Toji said slowly.

"Toji! I'm so glad you're all right!" said his fiancé. She wrapped her arms around the man and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "What happened?" Toji asked.

"I just heard you were in hospital and you were hurt bad," Hikari said. "The doctors told me that you were shot in your left hip and that your femur has a serious splinter fracture. They were lucky they didn't have to amputate."

"Jesus Christ," Toji muttered. "Is that it?"

"They said it could take from six months up to a year before you could begin walking normally again," Hikari said, with tears flowing down her face. "They also said…they also said this probably would end your police career."

Toji leaned back into his pillow and looked up at the ceiling, trying to recall what had happened. It had been incredibly sudden, the moment the gunmen appeared. Toji tried to move but he wasn't quick enough and was hit. After that, he didn't remember much. Delirium must have come hand in hand with the pain.

Now, all of a sudden, his police career was over. Toji didn't know how to feel at that moment. He didn't know whether to feel angry, or sad. He didn't know whether to feel depressed, or agitated. One thing he did feel, however, was relief. He was glad to be alive first and foremost. Secondly, he was glad that his wife-to-be was there by his side. And with that, he was content for the moment.

* * *

Ritsuko Akagi turned around to look at the Marduk facility one last time before making her way toward the city of Tokyo-3. She had no idea why there had been no guards at the back door. She had no idea why the back door had been open. However, she had seen an opportunity and she had taken it.

It had been three years since she had seen the outside world. Not much had changed it seemed, but that was just on the surface. She knew that she would be entering a city at war and that she was still at great risk from the men of SEELE. Ritsuko caught a bus heading into the city and waited anxiously to get there. She had many things to tell. She had to get revenge on the men of SEELE. And she knew the person to help her with that. An old friend; Misato Katsuragi. Or maybe it would have been Misato Kaji by now? Ritsuko wasn't sure. She was sure that she would see Misato and she was absolutely certain that she wanted to bring SEELE down.

* * *

"Has Dr Akagi been released as planned?" SEELE 2 asked.

"Yes," SEELE 4 replied. "Everything has gone as arranged."

"Excellent," SEELE 1 said. "She will lead the police right to Marduk. That is where we will lay waste to them with our new army."

"The information planted in subject zero's head was most useful in the creation of our army," SEELE 3 said. "And now, Dr Akagi will tell the world about our army. The police will come and they will find out first hand how magnificent it is."

"This is all going according with our scenario," SEELE 5 said. "We will have control of this city. It shall be done."

"The culmination of over a decade of hard work has come to this," SEELE 1 declared. "We shall overthrow the Yakuza and start a new era in the city in our name. With the power of science and our influence in government, SEELE shall become the new power in the city of Tokyo-3. Once we have Tokyo-3 under our belt, all the other major cities will succumb to our influence. It is then, my fellow SEELE brothers, that we will reap the riches of our successes."


	9. The Mother is the First Other

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

_12__th__ July 2010_

"This is incredible, Professor," said Mr Keel Lorenz, the chair of the Marduk Research Institute. Keel was an elderly German man with a regal head of grey hair who had to wear thick reading glasses whilst going about his day. He also suffered from arthritis and was plagued by near constant pain. He opened this research centre specialising in genetics and embryonic stem cell research, seemingly in the hope of ridding himself of his arthritis before spreading cures and remedies for other diseases and conditions out into general public use. However, he kept his motives to himself. His motives along with his past all remained a mystery. Nobody really knew the man Keel Lorenz for who he was.

However, from what Professor Yui Ikari could tell, he seemed a nice enough man. He had a grandfatherly demeanour about him and a pleasant smile. He was also the man that funded Professor Yui Ikari's work in her field of genetics. She had just unveiled the latest and most spectacular breakthrough to the chairman of Marduk, a breakthrough that could most likely be highly controversial.

"This is the culmination of many years' worth of work," Yui said. "All in this child."

"Indeed, professor," Keel said with a smug grin. "Is there anything of note in the child?"

"No. She is a fully fledged human being by all rights. Her current body is that of a baby just born after nine months," Yui explained. "She will develop normally as a human being. Her height, her intelligence, her appearance, her body type, her blood type, it all depends on her genes, like any other baby. In essence, what we have is another human being."

"The only difference is that this child has no parents, only gene donors. This child is a clone. She was created," Keel noted.

"Clone is an ugly word in my field, sir, but you may call the child a clone if you wish," Yui said. "As well as this, she is not a 'pure' clone, if you must. Her DNA has been altered to differentiate her from her gene donor. This, I believe, is the greatest achievement of this; to be able to manipulate DNA so freely, liking knitting the stands of life."

"That is incredibly remarkable," Keel said. "Out of interest, who is this child's gene donor?"

"In the interests of the integrity of this experiment, I used myself as a gene donor," Yui said. "This was to ensure a tight veil of secrecy was kept on the project."

"I see," Keel said.

"I've also taken it upon myself to look after this child," Yui said with a motherly smile. "I've even named her."

Keel grinned lightly, "What have you named her? A name as lovely as your own?"

"Oh, my name is fairly ordinary," Yui said, blushing slightly. "I've named the girl Rei. It was our name my husband and I would have given our child had it been a girl."

"I see."

"Rei Ayanami, I think. That's the name she shall have," Yui declared.

"And what a wonderful name indeed," Keel said. "This is a monumental breakthrough professor. There are endless possibilities if we possess the ability to create a human being."

"It's incredibly exciting," Yui agreed. "I also have the means to create a human from any stage of their life. I could have made Rei twenty years old had I wished to."

"Really?" Keel said with his ears seemingly perked up. "Interesting…"

* * *

_Present Day, 2016_

Tokyo-3 sure looked a lot different from what Ritsuko could remember. The proposed intercity monorail line that was just a concept three years ago was up and running, proving cheap, efficient and convenient public transport for the masses. Also, the buildings, despite being three years older, looked newer than ever. The skyscrapers stood proudly over the city, looking over the city and its tiny occupants.

Along with that, there were new buildings altogether. Some of them were still under construction in the background, partly obscured by a foreground of present skyscrapers. And the new ones just seemed to be getting taller, superseding the previous ones. It seemed much like the cycle of existence. As soon as someone or something became too old, or went past their usefulness, they were replaced. Ritsuko had a feeling in her mind that she was due to be replaced if she had stayed at Marduk so as soon as she saw the opportunity to escape and leave, she did.

She walked along the city streets, noting that they weren't as busy as they could have been. The attacks by SEELE had brought the city into a constant state of alert. She had heard of the army presence within the city, but that had now decreased to a minimum. Still, Ritsuko could easily see that the people who walked on the streets weren't easy about it. They seemed to be nervous, as she was. Anything could happen at any moment to anybody. That was the total unpredictability of the situation.

Ritsuko saw the lone payphone and approached it, knowing what she had to do but with no idea how to do it. She looked about and tried to make sure she didn't see any of SEELE's men. If they had been tasked to kill her, they would do so ruthlessly, killing anyone else in their path. She never imagined science could fall so inadvertently into the wrong hands and be used for such deeds. As she stood at the door for the phone booth, she took a deep breath before opening the door and entering.

Ritsuko stood inside the phone booth, nervous and anxious yet filled with excitement and anticipation at the same time. She flicked through the phone book, looking for the phone number of the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police's Investigations Section. As she looked through, she wondered how Misato would react once she contacted her. Looking from Misato's perspective, it was unsettling to think that someone you thought dead would make contact with you after three years.

She became unsure of how to go about this. Could Misato actually believe it was her? _I can't just call and go 'Hey, it's me, Ritsuko, your friend you thought died three years ago!',_ Ritsuko thought. _I need to meet her in person. I can't tell her what I need to tell her over the phone, a payphone especially. I'll call her, keeping my identity secret and arrange a meeting with her. That's how I'll do it._

As she dialled the number, she felt some of weight on her shoulders slowly disappearing. She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the line connect and the ringing tone in her ear. Now things would change. Ritsuko would begin to help set things right.

* * *

_8 January, 2002_

Professor Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu had finished logging her findings for the day. Today had been a tedious day but a fruitful one, because she had more invaluable data. Another day in reaching their final goal of making man free from disease. If they could accomplish what they had set out to do, the scientists at the newly established Marduk Research Institute would have the means to cure cancer, AIDS, malaria and be able to perform any organ transplants without the risk of rejection. The medical prospects seemed endless and that pushed Kyoko on.

"I have to go now," Professor Yui Ikari said. "My son is playing cello in his school show tonight and I wouldn't miss that for the world."

"Okay, Yui. I hope you enjoy yourself," Kyoko said with a smile, her German accent coming thickly through into her Japanese. "How is young Shinji doing these days?"

"Oh, just fine," Yui replied. "He'll be twelve this June and he's doing fine at school. He's currently obsessed with those police cartoon shows! He won't stop talking about them!"

"Ah, yes," Kyoko chuckled. "Asuka seems to enjoy those shows as well."

"How is Asuka doing?" Yui inquired.

"Just fine. She'll turned eleven last month and she'll be twelve December this year. She seems to like bossing me around at home," Kyoko said. "But she's far from a brat because she can be so adorable at times."

"Yes, I know what you mean. Asuka is like that," Yui agreed with a smile.

"Anyway, I'm sure you're dying to go! _Schnell_! Enjoy yourself!"

"Sure thing, Kyoko. I'll see you tomorrow."

Yui Ikari left Kyoko alone in the office adjacent to the main lab as Kyoko continued to write out the day's findings. However, it soon came time that Kyoko need to leave as well, as she had a family to attend to. She stood up and put on her coat before making her way out of the building. Very few of the corridor lights were on and despite Kyoko working her for nearly a year now, she still felt disconcerted by the eerie aura the dark corridors created. Kyoko was an incredibly proud and confident woman but when alone, she often found herself easily frightened by little things. Things like how someone looked at her when they passed her on the street or the tone of voice someone took when serving her coffee in the morning.

Her confidence revolved being around people and people that she could relate to. And as her daughter grew up, she saw that part of her personality seemed to have transferred down to her daughter. Asuka would become grumpy and agitated when her none of her friends could play with her. They always had to be with _her. _It wasn't a good personality aspect, but it was one she Kyoko and now Asuka were living with.

The sound of Kyoko's heels striking the floor reverberated all the way the long, dimly lit corridors. No other sound could be heard, adding to the sense of loneliness. For some reason, she felt incredibly uncomfortable tonight as she walked through on her own, despite having done it many times before. Maybe it was woman's intuition speaking to her, warning her about something. However, she could have just been feeling paranoid and continued on down the corridor that would eventually bring her to the main door.

She stepped outside and the cold was sharp and biting. This year had brought a particularly harsh winter with little snow, only constant sub-zero temperatures and the icy winds that came along with such low temperatures. She wondered if it had anything to do with the incident two years before that destroyed the capital of Japan.

Tokyo had been the target of a terrorist attack, involving a nuclear weapon. Nearly a third of the city was wiped out completely and the rest of the city had to be abandoned because of the fall out caused by the weapon. It wasn't a large nuclear weapon, smaller than the ones used in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings of nearly sixty years ago. However, it was enough to make Tokyo inhabitable for years to come.

The Japanese government declared that administrative control of the country would be split between two cities, dubbed Tokyo-2 and Tokyo-3. Thus far, the construction of both cities was in their infancies, but it was coming along fine. The Marduk Research Institute wasn't far from the site of Tokyo-3 and Kyoko could see the progress that they were making on the city.

She headed towards her car when she noted two men standing out in the cold, talking to each other. She recognised one of the men to be Keel Lorenz, the head of the Marduk Research Institute. "…and on the plus side, with the institute up and running, we can begin what we need to begin in a few years time," she heard Keel saying.

"Things aren't progressing as fast as I would like," the other man said. "Can't you move any quicker?"

"This is a delicate and intricate part of the process," Keel replied. "Once the scientists provide us with the means we need, we can begin with eliminating the Yakuza and taking control of their assets that way. All I ask is that you wait."

"Very well Keel. I trust your judgment on this one."

"Be patient. Once we get what we need from this Institute then we can begin with our plans."

"To take over this city once it is completed."

"Exactly."

Kyoko couldn't quite believe her ears. Was the chairman of the Marduk Research Institute, the company for which she worked for, discussing plans to take over Tokyo-3 once it had been constructed? If he was and Kyoko wasn't hearing things, then this was big news. This was something that she could not live with. If they were truly doing what they said they were, then someone needed to know. She opened her car door and began a hasty exit.

"She heard, didn't she?" asked Keel Lorenz, knowing that Kyoko had overheard them but ignored her presence so that she remained oblivious to this fact.

"I'll take care of it," said the man who would become SEELE 2.

"Are you sure?"

"She knows too much. I shall take care of her elimination."

"Do it right. We don't want to risk exposure at such an early stage."

Keel watched as the man entered his car and set off after Professor Sohryu. "It is regrettable that you have to die so early, Frau Sohryu," Keel said, in his native German, "but you risk us losing everything we have worked for so far. May your soul rest in peace, Frau Sohryu."

Kyoko knew the road leaving Marduk was treacherous. There were many bends in the road and over the right-hand side of the road, there was a steep hill from which there would be no return. To make things even more dangerous, any water on the road had frozen solid in the cold January air, making the journey even more hazardous.

However, Kyoko needed to get away from Marduk to the right authorities as quickly as possible. She went as fast as the road and conditions allowed but still that wasn't very quick at all. She usually drove much faster than most people even dared to think about but tonight, her life was really on the line and one wrong move could send her off the road.

That was when she saw the headlights behind her. They were set to full beam and it began to dazzle her. She struggled to try and keep focus of the road ahead as the car behind her got closer to her. Kyoko threw her Mercedes C-Class around next sharp left, momentary breaking off the following headlights and allowing her to recuperate. However, the headlights reappeared and got closer once more. She couldn't even sneak a glance at her rear-view mirror as all she would see was the headlights of the car following her.

Kyoko never saw the next left. The headlights were too much. She drove straight off the edge of the road, right through the barrier. Her car began to turbulently tumble down the hill and smashed off the steep hill many times. It wasn't along until Kyoko was unconscious from the heavy shuddering impacts. As her car continued to tumble, the impacts began to eat away at her life. Her head banged off the roof of the car, along with the side window. The car itself began to compact as it was crushed by the continued impacts it received off the side of the hill. And like that, Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu was dead as her car continued to roll down until it reached to base of the hill.

The man in the car above watched and smiled as he saw the car come to a stop. He whipped out his mobile phone and hastily entered a number. "Keel? It's done. She's been taken care of." The man then hung up before re-entering his car and heading back to the research institute, knowing that their plans were safe from exposure for the time being.

* * *

_Present day, 2016 _

"This must be the first arrest we've made on this case so far," Asuka noted sourly. She along with Shinji were at the nearby docks a few miles down from Tokyo-3. They had traced the weapons crates to these docks and found that a small smuggling group had been responsible for receiving the weapons here in Japan. The police there had made several arrests and hopefully the suspects would have information. Shinji, on the other hand, was not so hopeful.

"Something gives me the feeling that these small time smugglers won't produce much," Shinji noted.

"What gives you that impression?" Asuka inquired.

"I think these guys must have been given a big pay off to get these weapons in from whoever shipped them to Japan. They recieved lots of cash, so they didn't ask questions about the people who paid them," Shinji answered.

"That would seem plausible," Asuka said. "But still, we need to interrogate those suckers and bleed them for all they're worth."

"Yeah, I guess so. We might as well get the interrogations over and done with. Ready to head back to the station?" Shinji asked.

"Uh-huh. Let's go."

They headed hastily back to Investigations Headquarters with their suspects. They placed who they assumed to be the head man in the interrogation room and had him wait in there for about fifteen minutes. Shinji and Asuka stood outside the interrogation room with a coffee each, trying the gauge the man inside from his movements. "He seems twitchy as hell," Asuka noted.

"It's because he's just crashed and burned," Shinji said. "He knows he's guilty. He'll sing like a canary. If he doesn't, then we'll make him sing."

The two officers entered the interrogation room and looked at the man inside hard in the eyes. "Hello," Shinji said. "I'm sure you know why you're here." The man provided them with a grunt, which Asuka smiled wryly at. "Why did you do it? Why did you take in those weapons?" Asuka inquired.

"For the money, of course," replied their suspect.

"For the money, huh?" Shinji asked. "Who paid you?"

"I don't know the guy's name. He just offered me and my boys a lot of money to receive his goods. I didn't even know they was weapons in those crates."

"What did he look like?" Asuka asked.

"I never saw his face. I spoke to him through the window of his limo, ya dig? He had it rolled down just an itty bit, so I could hear him. I couldn't see the guys face but he offered loads of cash, so I obliged quite easily."

"Who shipped the weapons in?" Shinji snapped.

"How am I supposed to know? I run a small time syndicate!"

"Did you not see the ships that brought the weapons in?" Shinji asked in annoyance.

"Yeah, sure, I saw ships. They weren't too big, like, but they was ships all right."

"Did you catch anything? Ship names, numbers?" Asuka asked.

"Listen lady, I didn't pay no attention to the small details. I was getting a lot of money outta this so you don't tend to remember things like that."

"Did you see any people on those ships? Do you remember faces? Anything?" Shinji asked.

"I just said, I wasn't paying attention to details, buddy! That's all I remember that these guys unloaded tonnes of crates onto my turf and I had them distributed to several locations."

Shinji's ears perked up. "Wait," he said, "did you just say several locations?"

"Yeah, several locations."

"Where? How many places did you get these weapons crates to?" Shinji asked.

"Four, if I remember right. Four places. Big warehouses, all around Tokyo-3."

"Do you have the addresses?" Asuka asked.

"We weren't given no addresses. We followed their guys to the places. Then we got told to take the money, fuck off and never come again, to put it real blunt."

"Are you telling me that you couldn't even mark out where you went?" Shinji asked.

"No way. We made those deliveries like, what, three months ago. There's no way I would remember the way, with those roads being the way they are."

"Okay," Shinji said next. "How about I give you an hour to remember? Only an hour. When we come back, I expect directions, an address, even a map! Just tell us where they hell you delivered those weapons, understand? Maybe we can lighten you sentence if you prove useful. One hour, got it?"

Shinji and Asuka left the man to consider his offer of a possible lighter sentence in exchange for more information. "Shit, this is bad. They got those weapons three months ago!" Shinji said.

"You said it," Asuka agreed. "I can't believe that all those guns at NERV weren't the only ones. There were so many just at that one place!"

"Someone's really up to something absolutely colossal here," Shinji said. "And we have to find out who they are and what they are doing, fast."

* * *

_12__th__ July 2010_

"Truly amazing," Keel Lorenz said in awe.

"This is only the beginnings of the possible genetic manipulation. You can make one of these clones faster, stronger, more intelligent, less intelligent, everything. With these new techniques used in the creation of clones, all this is possible. It's even possible to implant memories into the clones," Yui Ikari explained.

"You've opened up so many new doors here, Professor. This is truly wonderful," Keel said.

"As well as this, for medical purposes, we can create a 'living' cadaver, in the sense of the word in that the body is alive, but doesn't live in the sense that a human lives. These bodies would be brain dead, their only use being for donor organs and tissue. With these new methods, we could obtain a specific organ for the patient, nullifying the risk of tissue rejection," Yui said. "My only fear for this entire project is the possible military application."

"Really? What would that be?"

"Is it not obvious?" Yui said. "The ability to create genetically enhanced clones with increased strength, speed, reactions and intelligence along with a soldier that would follow orders at all times without question. That is my fear, sir. For that reason, I've not logged this knowledge. It's all in my head and hopefully it need never come out."

Yui Ikari didn't know who Keel Lorenz truly was. She didn't know that by telling him this, he would use her to get this ability out of her. His plans were set in stone and Yui Ikari would be the tool to help carve out what he needed. They have waited many years for the ability to create a clone and know they had it. As well as this, they had the means to possibly create a super soldier. It was all in Yui Ikari's head.

However, it seemed that Yui Ikari was never meant to serve under Marduk past that day. She too, like Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu, overheard a conversation that she should have never heard. It was a horrible secret that Yui wished she had known from the start. Once she discovered that Keel was part of SEELE and that their intentions were to take over the city of Tokyo-3 using human clones, she had to tell someone. The police, the army, anybody. Anybody who could stop SEELE.

Yui Ikari set off in her car, unknowingly doing the same thing that Kyoko did eight years ago which led to her death. The rain was torrential. Visibility was low. It was impossible to see much further than a few metres in front due to the heavy rain battering Yui's front windscreen.

She drove quickly, regardless of the rain. She knew this road well and hopefully that would be to her advantage. After about fifteen minutes, it seemed that she had gotten away without anybody knowing. Yui blew a sigh of relief as she eased off the speed lightly, still heading fairly quickly back into the city of Tokyo-3.

Yui never saw the car behind her. There were no headlights. All she heard was the light thud that sent her aquaplaning off the side of the road and tumbling violently down the steep and treacherous hill. Yui Ikari was sent to her death, the same way in which Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu was sent to hers. SEELE had claimed another life in their pursuit for absolute secrecy.

However, this time, a SEELE helicopter flew over the wreckage of Yui Ikari's car. Keel had special plans for Yui, even in death. "Go in and retrieve her brain. Then set the car on fire, as if her petrol tank had been set alight," Keel ordered. His henchmen went about the sordid job of cutting open the woman's head and taking out her brain from her already mangled body. After that gruesome task was done, they set the car on fire and left in the helicopter. Keel Lorenz watched the car burn and smiled as they flew off, knowing that despite Yui Ikari's death, his plan was already in motion.

The five monoliths of SEELE appeared in the darkness of the room within the Marduk Research Institute. SEELE had begun with two men and now were five. These five men were the puppet masters in an elaborate scheme to gain ultimate control of the city of Tokyo-3. Once they did have control of Tokyo-3, they would look onwards and upwards, to Tokyo-2 and other cities with a large Yakuza influence.

"It was unfortunate that Professor Yui Ikari had to be killed," said SEELE 1. "However, we have all her information stored in her computer. If we assemble a team of scientists, we will have the means to begin creating clones."

"This is a most excellent development," SEELE 3 said.

"Most commendable," SEELE 2 agreed.

"Yui Ikari also possessed the knowledge to create super soldiers from these clones but chose not to log this information. Seemingly, this knowledge would have disappeared in her death but she in her computer notes, she explains how to implant memories in clones. I say that we take Yui Ikari's memories and place them inside a clone. Once the time is right, we shall obtain those memories from said clone."

"I concur," SEELE 5 said.

"All we need to do now is assemble a team of scientists. Once that is done, we can use them to do our bidding. We shall use them to create new clones, as well as to implant Yui Ikari's memories inside them. All is going well, my friends," SEELE 1 declared.

"What about the current clone that Professor Ikari has created?" SEELE 4 inquired.

"It is of no use to us," SEELE 1 said. "Once we have our scientists, we will make a new Rei Ayanami and place Yui Ikari's memories in her. Until then, we do not need that baby. Kill it."

* * *

_Present day, 2016_

Misato drove to the location that their source had indicated. The woman over the phone had remained anonymous, only providing a time and place to meet. She also requested that Misato come alone. Misato was alone in her car, but she was far from alone outside. The attempt on her life meant that she was being watched 24/7. However, the officers keeping their eye on Misato had orders to stay out of the way on this one, as not to scare their source.

Misato reached the spot, which was a Tokyo-3 bar that she had often come to during university. She exited her car and made her way inside. She hadn't been inside this bar for years and the memories came flowing back as soon as she did. Every bit of it seemed familiar. It seemed like nothing had changed.

Misato headed up to the bar, looking around for her contact. She didn't see anybody so she waited at the bar, keeping her eyes and ears open. She then noticed the blonde woman sit next to her. She had an uncanny resemblance to someone Misato knew but there was no way she could be who Misato thought she was.

"Hello Misato, long time no see, eh?" the blonde said.

"No way…" Misato muttered. "Oh my god…is that really you…Ritsuko?"


	10. Mr Nagisa Part III: The End of The Road

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

Ritsuko Akagi had immediately been taken into protective custody after her initial meeting with Misato and once inside the main conference room of Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police Central Headquarters, she had a hell of a story to tell to the officers of the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police. Misato, Asuka and Shinji along with other officers from all departments including the paramilitary task force all listened in amazement as Ritsuko told them the story of how she had been kidnapped by a group of men known only as SEELE and how they had staged her death along with the deaths of a dozen other brilliant scientists. 

"So these men, SEELE you call them, they rigged the plan to crash?" Misato inquired.

"That's correct," Ritsuko replied. "There was nothing we could do. We were dead unless proven alive and that's how it remained."

"How were you treated?" Shinji asked.

"To put it bluntly, like shit," Ritsuko answered, stubbing out the cigarette she had been smoking. "They constantly threatened us with death and had no qualms about beating anyone without reason. I was treated slightly better, however. They had a higher use for me because of some of my expertise. Had it not been for that, I would have treated just the same, kicked around and spat on."

"So what kinds of research were you forced to conduct?" Asuka asked.

"It was all genetic manipulation and cloning," Ritsuko responded.

"Cloning?" Asuka said in surprised.

"Yes, cloning. To date, Marduk has produced over a hundred clones and they were the ones used in the recent crime surge you've been seeing," Ritsuko explained.

"Damn it," Kensuke Aida cursed. "That would be why we couldn't get any hard data on any of these guys whatsoever, then?"

"Correct," Ritsuko replied. "SEELE had already possessed the knowledge and the means to produce human clones. However, they lacked people with the skills to do any of it. That's where we came in. We were their tools for crafting their clone soldiers. As well as simply cloning them, we modified their behaviour so that they would follow orders without question and also lacked the more complex human emotions."

"That's mind boggling," Misato noted. "You said that SEELE already possessed the knowledge and the means to create the clones. How did they achieve that?"

"From the groundwork laid by two brilliant scientists, Professors Ikari and Sohryu. Both were killed by SEELE once they had discovered SEELE's true intent. Professor Sohryu was murdered in 2002 and Professor Ikari was murdered in 2010. Their deaths were made to look like accidents," Ritsuko answered.

Shinji and Asuka looked at each other in disbelief. It seemed that both of their mothers had worked for the same organisation before being silenced for knowing too much. Shinji still couldn't believe what he was hearing from the mouth of this woman who was once thought dead. "Excuse me, Doctor; was that Professor Yui Ikari you were referring to?" Shinji asked.

"Yes, officer, it was," Ritsuko replied. "Did you know her?"

"She was my mother," Shinji said.

"I see. I am sorry for your loss. I know that you were led to believe her death was an accident and me telling you that she was murdered can be quite a shock. I apologise if I'm causing any grief," Ritsuko said.

"No, its okay," Shinji said.

"And the woman sitting next to Ikari, I can immediately tell that you are Professor Sohryu's daughter, am I correct?" Ritsuko inquired.

"Yes ma'am, I am," Asuka replied.

"Then I am sorry for your loss as well. It's a shame that the truth around their deaths was hidden from you by evil men," Ritsuko said.

"On the subject of SEELE," Misato said. "What do they actually want?"

"Money, of course," Ritsuko replied. "That's all there is to it. SEELE consists of some crooked rich men who want to get even richer by any means possible. They plan to take over Tokyo-3's underground by wiping out the Yakuza by force. I'm also led to believe they have influence over the government in some capacity but that I cannot confirm."

"So basically, we're dealing with some power hungry megalomaniacs who possess the ability to create human clones?" Misato asked.

"In a nutshell, yes," Ritsuko answered. "However, it gets worse."

"There's always more bad news," Shinji noted wryly.

"Yui Ikari died with the knowledge of how to turn these clones into genetically modified super soldiers. However, SEELE managed to someone acquire the memories of Yui Ikari and implant them in a clone. Now, if you're wondering why this had to be done, it is because the memories cannot be viewed and accessed like a computer hard drive, for example. They needed to plant the memories inside a clone and gain the information for the clone itself. The memories and the knowledge would then emerge gradually, allowing SEELE to access this information. This clone is basically a vessel for information. However, this process had proved difficult and it took us years to finally create a clone with the world's first ever memory implant. However, within hours of creation, the clone escaped before being recovered several days later. Some of you may be familiar with this said clone. She was known within Marduk as Subject Zero. Her name was Rei Ayanami and she was partly a genetic clone of Yui Ikari."

"You're kidding right?!" Misato exclaimed. "She slipped right through our fingers! You're saying that because SEELE have Rei, they now have the means to create super soldiers out of their clones?!"

"It's hard to tell," Ritsuko said. "Rei was being far from cooperative when I was tasked to harvest her memories. However, SEELE would have much more brutal ways of gaining access to her mind."

"I can't believe it!" Misato said, slamming her fist on the table in front of her. "If only we had known all of this sooner!"

"Misato, there was nothing we could have done to know all this bar a miracle," Shinji said. "Don't beat yourself up over it."

"I know, but it's so frustrating knowing this now," Misato growled.

"My last bit of information might prove the most useful to you," Ritsuko said. "The location of the Marduk Research Institute."

"That would be most useful," Misato said. "That way, we can go in there and kick all their asses all at once."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Ritsuko said. Once the blonde doctor had supplied the address, Misato rounded up all the section chiefs of the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan police. "Okay, here's the score. We have an address. We also have inside intel on the place. This could be the closure we've been looking for on this case. I want an operation planned to bring down those suckers at this location in no less than two hours. You got that? Two hours. We reconvene and piece everything together for the operation briefing in three hours, got it? I want this place raided and I want it raided today. Get to work people."

Misato watched everyone disappear off to do their jobs while she just sat and waited for them to come up with the goods. Obviously, Misato would have her input but as Commander, her main job was to oversee everything and to make sure that everything ran smoothly. "Tough job, huh?" Ritsuko said.

"Tell me about it," Misato agreed. "You know, your whole story, it's absolutely crazy. Never before have I heard the word clone used so much outside of a movie."

"It's the crazy world we live in," Ritsuko said. "The lengths people will go to get their hands on money and power in ludicrous."

"It all seems like it's out of a science fiction movie though," Misato said. "And also, I thought you were dead until about an hour ago."

"Like I said, it's the crazy world we line in," Ritsuko said with a sigh.

"It's good to have you back, Ritsu," Misato said.

"Thanks, Misato. I missed you," Ritsuko said.

"I missed you too," Misato said with a smile. "Now, we have to make you officially 'alive' now."

"Ah yes," Ritsuko chuckled. "There's bureaucracy in declaring me alive. How wonderful."

Half an hour past and Misato had her own ideas for the operation down on her notepad. However, everything from every angle had to be considered. There was no room for error. Any error here in the planning stages meant people got killed out there in the field. Misato looked up from her desk and saw Asuka sitting on her own next to a vending machine. Misato decided to go out and have a word.

"Hello Asuka," the commander of the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police greeted.

"Oh, hey Misato," Asuka said.

"Everything all right?" Misato asked.

"I'm not so sure," Asuka replied. "I've just learned that my mother was murdered, not killed in an accident like I thought since I was eleven and I don't know what to make of it."

"You don't know what to make of it?" Misato inquired.

"Yeah. I don't know whether to be sad and grieve about it or whether I should be angry at the people responsible. It all just seems so surreal at the moment," Asuka said.

"I think we all feel a bit like that," Misato said. "I found out that my best friend who I thought was dead was alive after three years and that she was kept basically as a slave for those three years. But now we know who is behind it all and today, we can put a stop to it."

"Yeah, that's true," Asuka agreed. "How are you going to do it?"

"We're going to raid the place. Big style. We'll could possibly have armoured personnel carriers, snipers, demolitions teams, the whole shebang," Misato answered. "I'm even considering getting the army involved."

"Sounds big," Asuka noted.

"Trust me, it will be," Misato said with a smile. "By the way, where is Shinji?"

"He's gone to see his father. He said he would be back soon," Asuka replied.

"At a time like this?" Misato asked. "I could have used his help."

"He did say he would be back soon," Asuka pointed out. "Also, it's about his mother."

"His mother?"

"Yeah. He's gone to tell his father the truth about their mother. I would have done the same if my dad had been in town," Asuka explained.

"I see," said Misato. "I hope he's okay. I know Shinji's sensitive about his mother."

"He's fine, I think," Asuka said. "He's just relieved to finally know the truth about her. I'm still not sure what to think about it, knowing that my mother was murdered."

"It's a tough one," Misato said. "I felt the same when my father died a while back. I didn't know whether I hated him or loved him when he was alive and the way he died confused me even more. It was when Tokyo was attacked by those terrorists who set the dirty bomb off in the city centre back in 2000. As soon as he heard the warnings, he got me as far away from the city centre as he could before going back in. It was then that the bomb went off. Looking back on it now, I knew that he really cared for me but because he was always wound up in his work, I couldn't tell and I ended up hating him for it. He was in the police as well."

"Death is a confusing thing," Asuka said, with her head in her hands.

"Sure is," Misato agreed. "Now, I need to go and continue with the operation planning. You can take it easy now, Asuka. We don't need you for the raid."

"I'm coming on the raid," Asuka said. "These bastards were responsible for my mother's death."

"If you do go, make sure you go because it's your job, not because you have a personal vendetta to fulfil, is that understood?" Misato asked.

"Yes ma'am," Asuka replied.

"Good to hear. Like I said, take it easy. We still have a while left of operation planning left," Misato said.

The police commander left Asuka on her own to work things out in her head. The redhead stood up and bought herself a coffee out of the vending machine before making her through to the stairs, traversing down them and heading out the main door. Asuka felt an immediate chill as she emerged and was thankful that she had a hot cup of coffee with her.

The day was an overcast one and it looked set to rain at any moment. Asuka frowned as she sipped her coffee. She looked out towards the city and saw people going about their daily lives, either walking along the pavement, driving a car or riding in a bus or taxi. The people here were part of the city of Tokyo-3. This was the city that SEELE wanted for themselves. What was so special about Tokyo-3?

She wondered why it hadn't been Tokyo-2. It was bigger and more of an economic centre to Japan than Tokyo-3, yet the city that SEELE wanted was Tokyo-3, not Tokyo-2. Asuka brainstormed, trying to figure why Tokyo-3 had been the target, not any other city. Whatever it was, she couldn't put her finger on it.

Asuka's mind then wondered to her mother. She had known her mother had been a scientist but she never knew who she worked for or what field she specialised in. Asuka was only eleven when she heard her mother had died and the news had devastated her. She wondered how she would have taken it if she had known that her mother had been murdered. Would she have joined the police with revenge in mind?

However, it had not been of any consequence as she joined the police anyway. Her time in the police had seen her go through another death, this time of her then fiancé. She knew that she had been quick to want to marry but she enjoyed her time with him so much that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Asuka felt that those had been the best days of her life.

Then came that day when he was killed. One bullet struck him in the head, killing him instantly. And like that, the source of Asuka's happiness up to that point had been stolen from her. Asuka had been in the office when he was out performing a raid on a Yakuza stronghold. She had felt responsible in some way for his death because she had been the mastermind behind the investigation. However, she knew she couldn't blame herself. He was killed in the line of duty. He died whilst doing his job. As harsh as it was, it happened and Asuka knew she had to deal with it.

It wasn't much longer after that when she was offered an investigations postings over in Tokyo-3. And there had been a catch; she would have to work with a partner. At first, Asuka flat out denied. She had always worked alone and saw no need to work with someone else on cases she knew she could crack herself. That changed when she learned who her partner was.

Shinji Ikari. The son of the Commander of Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police. He was renowned as an up and coming young officer for being inventive, cunning as well as being a brilliant detective, cracking down on many Yakuza within Tokyo-3, the city with the largest Yakuza presence in the whole of Japan. He also had a reputation for being a crack shot with all standard issue police firearms and then some.

Asuka felt compelled to go work with Shinji. He had a reputation and she wanted to know if he really was as good as they said he was. With that set, Asuka found herself bound for Tokyo-3. And as soon as she had got there, she immediately had work to do. The case they had to work on was rock solid. They came across brick walls everywhere they looked and there looked like there was no end in sight. No officer, never mind Shinji and Asuka, had ever seen or heard of anything like it. And just to add to how difficult the case had been, there had been many, many shoot outs with many officers and civilians killed. They were dealing with ruthless people who would do anything to get what they wanted.

One particular shoot out had Shinji's father staring death in the eye. Gendo had pulled through in the end, but Shinji was badly affected by it all. That night, he let everything out about himself. Shinji's emotional state was as bad as Asuka's and she knew it. That night had seen them come together and discover a love for each other, a love that Asuka thought she would never experience again from anybody. In fact, it had been a much more profound connection she had with Shinji. They were two people, a man and woman, very much alike emotionally. Both had been through a lot and they needed each other. However, under normal circumstances, neither would have admitted it to anybody. It had taken a lot of emotional stress on Shinji's part to bring the two together.

Asuka said at first that she wouldn't get involved romantically with Shinji, especially since he was another officer and with what happened to her fiancé just weeks before. Despite this, she found herself quickly growing close to Shinji, quicker than anybody else in her life. She found herself wanting to be with him and she wanted to satisfy that want. At first, Asuka thought it might have been about the sex, comfort sex at that, but as time progressed, she quickly found herself in a serious relationship with Shinji and that was something Asuka had not planned on.

Was it all some strange coincidence that her fiancé is killed, she is posted to Tokyo-3 where she meets a man she would fall in love with? It seemed a lot like fate. Asuka never believed in fate before but with everything that had happened, it seemed like something like fate was definitely at work. The only question was whether it would work out to ultimately give her happiness or more pain. Asuka didn't want any more pain, but in order to know was happiness was, she would have to know pain. She had more than her fair share of pain. Would she finally find happiness now?

"Hey, what you doing out here on your own?" asked none other than Shinji Ikari who had just returned from the hospital. The man bent over to give Asuka a kiss which she savoured. She needed him now. "Nothing really," Asuka replied. "I just needed some time alone to think."

"Did I disturb you?" Shinji asked.

"No, not at all," Asuka said. "I was just thinking about my mother, and then about us."

"Us?" Shinji said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, like how us being together might have been the work of fate," Asuka said.

"Fate or not," Shinji said, wrapping his arms around Asuka, "all that matters is that we're together, right?"

"Yeah, that's true," Asuka said, indulging in another kiss with Shinji, the person she was beginning to believe was her true soul mate. "How did your visit to your father go?"

"Once I told him that my mother had been murdered, he told me that he could die in peace! My heart skipped a beat until he told me he was kidding," Shinji said with a chuckle.

"Some sense of humour," Asuka said. "That would have frightened the life out of me as well."

"I'll say," Shinji said. "What's going on inside?"

"They're planning the operation to raid Marduk," Asuka answered.

"Are we involved?" Shinji asked.

"Not if we don't want to be," Asuka replied. "Why, do you want to be involved?"

"I want to find the people who killed my mother Asuka. Of course I want to be involved in the raid," Shinji said.

"Then I'm right behind you," Asuka said. "No matter what."

* * *

Kaworu Nagisa opened his eyes to discover that he was no longer dead. He found himself inside a glass tube with an all too familiar yellow liquid filling it. "Welcome to the land of the living," said Keel Lorenz who was stood in front of Kaworu.

"Strange. You never wanted to see me in person before," Kaworu noted wryly.

"Times are moving on Tabris," Keel said. "We have led the police right to this location. This is where we will crush them."

"And my services are required to help facilitate your needs?" Kaworu inquired.

"Yes, Tabris, your services are required. However, you are not the same as you were before you were killed. You are stronger, faster and smarter. You are the ultimate soldier. As soon as we arm you, Tabris, you and your men will be unstoppable in the face of the police. I want you to kill any and all police as soon as they show up here," Keel ordered.

"Who do I have under my command?" Kaworu asked.

"You have Sachiel, Bardiel and Zuruel, as before," Keel said. "They have been advanced genetically as well to be super soldiers, just like yourself."

"I see," Kaworu said. "When do you think the police will get here?"

"They will come today," Keel answered. "When, I do not know. You must be prepared for any eventually."

"Very well. It shall be done," Kaworu said.

"And Tabris, do not hold back. Kill them all without prejudice," Keel added.

Keel left and once he had, Kaworu was allowed outside of the glass tube that constricted him. They had decided to bring him back to life yet Kaworu didn't feel very grateful. Unlike all the other clones that SEELE used, Kaworu, codenamed Tabris, possessed a higher level of awareness and judgement. He was possibly the only clone capable of making a moral decision whereas all the other ones would simply follow their orders.

As he took his first steps, he felt incredible amounts of energy wound up inside himself. He felt as if he could run and jump faster and higher than anybody alive. His senses felt more attuned. He felt like he had an advanced level of situational awareness. Keel was right. He had been genetically modified this time around to make him a super solider. In SEELE's eyes, he was a more useful tool that was suited to more jobs and purposes.

Kaworu had been ordered to ruthlessly kill police officers that he had no quarrel with. Before, he believed he was just performing his job, fulfilling his purpose. Now, things seemed different. Kaworu was unsure whether following the old men's orders were the right thing to do. Maybe he could get more out of life by simply abandoning SEELE and living his own life.

However, he knew that if he did that, SEELE would go out and hunt him down. Even if he was a genetically modified super solider as Keel said, SEELE would find some means of eliminating him. Kaworu knew that he was much more useful alive. He thought of what he could do but the more he thought about it, the more he realised that this was all he had. He was a clone. There was no way he would be accepted in the outside world. All he had were SEELE's orders. However, despite everything conspiring against him, Kaworu decided to wage his own war against SEELE.

* * *

"Okay, this is the deal," Misato said once all the information had been complied together and a briefing had been prepared. The section chief of the paramilitary Task Force with some of his senior field officers were present at the briefing, along with Shinji and Asuka and other officers from different sections who were trained and qualified for this type of operation and had volunteered to take part in the raid.

"The compound only has two exits, here and here," Misato said, pointing to a satellite photo they had projected up on the screen. "However, the rear entrance has a steep hill right behind it, eliminating any chances of approaching undetected. The main entrance has a car park out in front of it which could turn into a killing field if we get this wrong. However, it is our only option."

"Alpha squad will take up positions here, on the right flank. Bravo squad will take up positions on the left flank. Charlie squad will take a central position fairly far back. Charlie will provide covering fire as Alpha and Bravo move in from either flank. It is up to Alpha and Bravo commanders to provide covering fire at their discretion. Don't hesitate. Just do. Once either Alpha or Bravo reach the main entrance, Charlie should begin to move up through the parking lot with both Alpha and Bravo in support. Any questions so far?"

"Commander," said the leader of Charlie. "Are we expecting fire from the rear of Charlie squad's position?"

"Negative. We'll have the road leading up to Marduk sealed and covered by our regular officers. There should be no threat of fire from your rear," Misato answered.

"Thank you commander," Charlie Squad leader said, satisfied his question had been answered.

"Any more questions?" Misato inquired. There was silence from her company, prompting her to move on.

"Alpha squad will enter the building with the primary objective of capturing and or eliminating the bad guys, SEELE as they're known. We have visual representations of their key man, name Keel Lorenz," Misato said. The artist's rendition of Keel Lorenz appeared up on the projector. "If at all possible, take this man alive. Otherwise, shoot to kill."

"Yes ma'am," said the commander of Alpha Squad.

"Bravo squad will enter the building with the primary objective of securing the hostages. Our source tells us that there are eleven hostages, all of whom are scientists. There are their photographs coming up on screen now. Bravo leader, I'm also sending the images to your field PDA," Misato continued.

"Roger that. Receiving the images," the commander of Bravo Squad confirmed.

"Charlie squad will remain outside and will act as backup if needed. They will also cover the entrance from any other hostiles that may appear. For this purpose, Charlie Squad will have two FN MINIMI machine guns," Misato said.

"Ma'am," said an officer from the organised crime section, "is such firepower really necessary?"

"I'm leaving nothing up to chance," Misato replied. "As well as this, all armed operatives will be equiped with G36 assault rifles with a minimum of three spare clips each. As well as this, each operative will have their service pistol and a spare clip along with smoke grenades and or flash-bangs. I've made the necessary arrangements so that all weapons and ammunition are ready at least half and hour before the operation commences. Any other questions?"

There was silence among the room. The operation had been planned to a tee to gain access to the building. The only thing they were unsure about was the threat level within the building itself. However, Misato had let everyone know that the threat level inside the building was most likely limited to small arms fire from pistols but also to expect anything. If the operation was to go pear shaped, it would be inside the Marduk building itself.

"No questions? All right, let's move!" Misato ordered. Everyone got up and prepared move out to the forward command post which would be deployed at the base of the road from Marduk. The operation was set to begin in an hour. Misato kept her fingers crossed and hoped this would go well. If it did, that meant they had an end in sight for this case.

* * *

Ten minutes until the operation began. The three sections were preparing to set off to their positions. Shinji and Asuka were in Alpha section. And for the first time in a while, Shinji felt incredibly nervous about this operation. He sat at the back of an armoured personnel carrier with his G36 in hand. Shinji had his Kevlar vest and helmet on and was also equipped with smoke grenades.

Misato had kept her promise and all the weaponry had arrived well in time and they had taken extra care to make sure that everyone was suited up correctly and that all weapons were ready for use. They knew exactly where they were meant to go, what they were looking for and how they were going to do it. Everything was incredibly well planned. Despite all of this, Shinji still felt nervous.

Asuka was nervous as well, because this was the first time she would be involved in such a raid. She wasn't alone. It was the first time for many of the Task Force officers as well along with Shinji himself. Never in the history of the Japanese Police Forces had such an operation had to be carried out. This was a first in many respects and Misato wanted to make sure that absolutely everything went right.

"Five minutes people," said the commander of Alpha Squad. "Load up on the APC's. We're moving!" Shinji and Asuka looked at each other and gave an affirmative nod to one another before boarding the one of Alpha Squad's two APC's. Bravo and Charlie were doing the same and the operation was staring to get going.

Shinji sat in the back of the APC, not knowing what to expect, but preparing for a gun battle like no other. He checked that the safety was on whilst he was inside the APC and that his spare magazines were easily accessible. All the other officers were performing similar last minute checks before they began. Shinji wondered if anyone else was as nervous as he was. He felt himself beginning to perspire already. This was really it.

The APC stopped and the squad leader gave the order to dismount. The rear doors of the APC opened up and the officers of Alpha squad disembarked and immediately formed a defensive formation around the exit. The last of the officers was off and the door closed. The APC then moved into a position to provide cover to Alpha squad from fire coming from the Marduk building if need be.

Alpha Leader held his hand up to his left ear as he heard a message relayed over his headset. "Operation has the green light! Go, go, go!" he ordered. Shinji turned his safety off and moved as Alpha Squad began the initial advance to the Marduk building with every officer with their eyes peeled on the building. Suddenly, they heard a gunshot. It had been directed at Bravo Squad.

"Snipers on the roof, snipers on the roof! Open fire!" Alpha Leader ordered. It was then all hell broke loose. Around twenty men emerged from the main entrance, covered by gunfire from snipers and machine-gunners on the rooftop of the Marduk building. Shinji moved for cover behind the APC as Charlie squad began to open fire from their position. It was completely hectic. Shinji didn't feel like a police detective. He felt like a soldier on the frontline.

Shinji peered around the side of the APC and took a shot a one of the hostiles, who dropped down after being struck by Shinji's bullets. He then pulled behind cover again and checked on Asuka. Much to his surprise, she was in the thick of it, almost constantly firing. She was composed and collected and that was all Shinji needed to know. He moved back out and fired, this time at a sniper on the rooftop who collapsed off after Shinji shot at him. As he looked around, he found that no Alpha officers had been hit. Their enemy was being thoroughly suppressed by the effective and coordinated police counter attack. Shinji continued to fire at the enemy, as did Asuka until they both empty just one clip.

After that moment, all the squad leaders gave the order to seize firing. As the smoke from the weapons began to clear, Shinji saw the bloodbath that lay at the entrance of Marduk. Those men who had come out to stop the police were slaughtered in their tracks. The police forces were just too well coordinated. "Head count! I want a report of any casualties sustained." Alpha Leader ordered.

"All twenty officers present and fit sir!" replied the second in command. "No casualties sustained."

"Good job, Squad," Alpha Leader said before opening his comm. link. "Bravo, Charlie, what's your status? Over."

"This is Bravo. I have one officer down, killed by that first sniper round. No other casualties. Over."

"This is Charlie. I have two casualties, injured but not bad. Over."

"Roger that. Alpha has no casualties. Prepare to move onto phase two of the operation."

Alpha and Bravo squads began to move up towards the main gate slowly, their weapons still firmly traced on the door and the roof. However, it seemed that they had gotten past any obstacles that would have stopped them getting this far. That was until an object was tossed outside of the front door.

"Grenade!" one of Alpha Squad yelled. They hastily moved out of the way as the grenade exploded, sending fragments all over the surrounding area. "Aaah!" Asuka gasped as a fragment struck her lower leg.

"Asuka! Are you all right?!" Shinji cried. He knelt down next to the redhead as she grimaced in pain. "It's all right. Just a scratch," Asuka said through gritted teeth.

It was then just three men emerged from the front door, each armed with AK-103 assault rifles and dressed in some sort of whole body armour. All three squads opened fired on the men, expecting three easy kills. However, instead of three dead hostiles, they found themselves having officers hit left, right and centre. "What the hell?!" Alpha Leader cried. The three hostiles appeared totally unscathed from the police gunfire. And the worst thing was, they stood there, taking snap shots at police officers, nailing their targets each time.

* * *

"Who are these guys?!" Misato cried from the command vehicles.

"They must be the genetically modified super soldiers," Ritsuko said. "They're deadly accurate and can take gunshot wounds as if they're nothing. The thing to do is to aim for the head."

"The head?" Misato asked, just to make sure.

"Yes. That's their most vulnerable spot," Ritsuko replied.

Misato got on the comm. link and said, "All officers, go for headshots, I repeat, headshots!"

* * *

"Roger that!" acknowledged Alpha Leader. "All right everyone! Go for head shots! Go for head shots!" Alpha squad had taken four casualties and the toll was rising as the three hostiles managed to sustain gunshots and not go down. "It's their armour!" one officer cried. "But how the hell are they shooting like that?! It's inhuman!"

The speed and accuracy at which the hostiles were firing seemed impossible. They used only one round for each officer they downed. Soon, Alpha had sustained seven casualties. Bravo had nine casualties and Charlie had six.

Shinji had made sure that Asuka was completely in cover before returning to the gunfight. He was horrified to see what was happening. Three men in full body armour were taking on three whole squads and winning. "Ikari! Headshots!" Alpha Leader yelled. Shinji instinctively dropped to one knee and brought his right eye into the sights of the rifle. He locked the head of one of the hostiles in his sights and at that same moment, that hostile turned to face him. Shinji and the hostile pulled the trigger, barely milliseconds apart. However, by the time the hostile pulled the trigger, Shinji's round had penetrated his head armour and ploughed itself into the skull of the hostile. Despite this, the shot the enemy fired landed on the ground barely centimetres from Shinj's right.

Shinji then got moving as staying still meant being shot at by the remaining two assailants who were taking their shots almost leisurely. Soon, casualties for each squad had risen into their tens, more than halving the number of officers they had begun with. It was not looking good, to say the very least.

Shinji was struggling to find the time to take another shot. The reactions of the two hostiles were far too good for him to even try. As soon as Shinji stopped to think about taking a shot, he saw guns traced on him. He had to keep moving and he urged the remaining officers in his squad to do so as well.

Suddenly, there was in incredibly loud crack from Charlie Squad's end and one of the hostiles was hit right in the head. The round shattered the visor and went straight through the head and out the back of the helmet. The round had literally made the head explode in a gruesome and gory manner.

"Hey Shinji. Thought you could use my help!" said none other than Kaji through the comm. link, who was at the hands of a .50 calibre Barrett sniper rifle. Shinji smiled when he heard his voice, wondering how Kaji had managed to appear at just the right moment with a sniper rifle capable of stopping trucks and cars in their tracks. The .50 calibre round of the rifle was enough to knock helicopters out of flight so when it hit the relatively soft surface of the human head, there was no chance.

"KAJI?!" Misato cried down the radio. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Having me some fun, babe!" Kaji replied with a laugh. He cocked the rifle and took aim once more. However, his shot missed the remaining hostile who was still proving to be lethal. "Damn," the man muttered as he cocked the rifle for another shot.

However, it was not a police officer that took out the last assailant. It was a man that Shinji had seen before and had personally killed. It was Kaworu Nagisa. He went up behind the last hostile with a Desert Eagle pistol and shot the hostile in the back of the head. He then walked out with his arms raised in the air.

"What the hell? I thought this guy was dead!" Shinji exclaimed.

"Apparently not," said Asuka, who had found the strength to walk despite the wound in her leg.

"Asuka, you should get out of here," Shinji said.

"No way, I'm fine," Asuka insisted. "Let's see what this punk has to say."

Officers approached Kaworu with their weapons pointed straight at him. "Get the fuck on the ground!" Shinji ordered.

"As you say," Kaworu said. "Although I may be of use to you."

Shinji was intrigued, "And how might you be of use?"

"I have just eliminated all of SEELE's members bar one, Keel Lorenz. They were smug and optimistic of victory. They hadn't counted on me stepping in," Kaworu explained. "I can take you inside and lead you to Keel."

"How do we know you're not lying?!" Asuka snapped.

"You'll just have to trust me," Kaworu said.

"Trust you?" Shinji asked. "Last time I saw you, I killed you."

"I'm a clone. I can be resurrected," Kaworu replied. "So, what's it gonna be?"

Shinji looked toward Alpha and Bravo squad leaders for approval. Alpha Leader said, "It's your call, Ikari."

Shinji looked toward Kaworu again and said, "Fine, take us in. But if you so much as make us think you're going to make a bad move, we won't hesitate to gun you down."

"I understand," Kaworu said. "Shall we?"

Shinji nodded and Kaworu led them inside the building. "Now, I would like some of your men to go down that way. All the scientists are located down that hallway," Kaworu said.

"You heard the man," said Bravo Leader. "Let's move Bravo!"

Bravo Squad moved off while Alpha Leader, Shinji, Asuka and Kaji were left to follow Kaworu up a set of stairs. Kaworu progressed slowly but stopped before he reached the top. "He's up here," Kaworu said.

"Let me through," said Alpha Leader. He got up to the top of the stairs, only to receive a gunshot straight through the forehead. The dead officer rolled down the staircase with the blood trailing out of the wound. "Holy shit," Asuka muttered.

Shinji cracked open one of his smoke grenades and tossed it over the top of the stairs and waited for the smoke to go off before they all went up the stairs. After the smoke cleared, they found that Alpha Leader's killer was nowhere to be seen. "We lost him," Kaji muttered.

However, Kaworu wasn't so sure. He continued on and the two officers and national security agent followed on. Kaworu headed down a hallway and came across a turn to the right. He carried on and disappeared around the corner. Shinji was about to follow when he heard a gunshot. The next thing he saw was Kaworu's body collapsing backward with a red circle in his forehead and blood pouring out onto the floor out of the exit wound.

At that moment, the three of them moved out into the hallway perpendicular to the one they were in. It was then time seemed to move in slow motion for Shinji. He saw the man they were after, Keel Lorenz. In his had was a pistol, pointed in their direction. Shinji moved to point his assault rifle at the man.

In that time, Keel managed to fire two shots. Shinji couldn't do anything as he saw Kaji go down to his left and Asuka go down to his right. Shinji hesitated for a split second when he saw Asuka and Kaji get hit and that worked against Shinji. As Shinji tried to pull the trigger, Keel shot again, hitting Shinji in the right shoulder, causing him to drop his G36. Shinji yelled in pain and grasped his shoulder with his left arm. Keel stood there with his pistol pointed at Shinji.

"So, we finally meet, son of Professor Yui Ikari," Keel said. "If only circumstances didn't require me to kill you. No hard feelings, young man." Shinji prepared for the end, closed his eyes and heard the gunshot. However, instead of experiencing death, Shinji saw Keel Lorenz drop to his knees and then to the ground, dead with a gunshot wound in the back of his head. Some of his blood had even hit Shinji's face. And standing behind Keel was none other than Rei Ayanami. She looked at the dead man in front of her and dropped the pistol out of her right hand. "I…I killed him," she said slowly, as she dropped down to her knees.

Shinji immediately turned around to focus his attention on Asuka and Kaji. Kaji had been hit in the chest and Asuka had been hit in the left leg but thankfully, both were alive. They needed medical attention fast though and Shinji called for immediate backup before turning to face Rei. "Thank you, for saving my life," Shinji said with a smile.

Rei managed a weak smile of her own before saying, "Is…is it over?"

"Yes," Shinji replied. "I think it's over."


	11. One More Final: Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the copyrighted brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

It had been six months since the conclusion in what had been the most intense and bloody police case in Japan's recent history. And it had barely lasted over a week. Over twenty officers were killed and many more were wounded in the line of duty for the duration of that investigation. Nobody had any idea how big the aftermath of the case turned out to be as well. Three government officials were arrested with evidence that linked them to SEELE, causing huge stir up because these three men were allowed in government undetected despite having the connections to SEELE. It would have been impossible to tell that they had links to SEELE, but the media would report it as a catastrophic failure on the Japanese Government's part.

The most shocking bit of news to the officers involved was that SEELE had given away the location of Marduk on purpose, planning an ambush with their super soldier clones. It had almost worked as well, had it not been for the mutiny of one particular clone, Kaworu Nagisa, codenamed Tabris. He had taken it upon himself to eliminate SEELE himself after becoming sick of being ordered around. He had killed four out of the five, with the final and most important member, Keel Lorenz, still alive.

Kaworu had been killed at the hands of Keel before being killed by Rei Ayanami, another one of the clones created by SEELE. As it turned out, Keel was formerly of East German Military Intelligence during the Cold War and was a known Nazi sympathiser in his home country. It also turned out that he was a crack shot with a pistol, even in his old age. His death had caused the death of SEELE itself, ending the investigation. All the scientists held hostage at Marduk for over three years were freed as well with their own incredible stories to tell.

After that, the streets of Tokyo-3 became safe again. The Yakuza in Tokyo-3 went deep underground after the murder of their boss and that suited the police very well. Police officers almost found it boring with the city quickly becoming one of the safest in Japan.

Two of those officers were in a Mercedes CLK63 AMG, driving home from the wedding of Toji and Hikari Suzuhara. It had been an enjoyable night for Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Sohryu, seeing two of their friends wed after a lengthy engagement. The only reminder of the SEELE case during the wedding was that Toji was still in crutches, recovering from his shattered femur. And even that couldn't dampen the sprits of all the wedding goers.

It turned out that the doctors got lucky with the surgery to repair Toji's femur, which meant he could resume full duties as a police detective once he had made a full recovery. Hikari had been with him all the way and they had wanted to marry as soon as possible after Toji began walking, even with crutches.

Present at the wedding had been Kensuke Aida. He had received a promotion from his department for his tireless analysis of forensic evidence during the SEELE case and was happy to see his best friend finally get married.

Also at the wedding were Misato and Kaji. Misato was offered the position of Deputy Commander of the Tokyo-2 Metropolitan Police but turned down the offer to stay working in Tokyo-3. The Deputy Commander of the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police returned from London after the case concluded and gave Misato his sincerest gratitude for handling everything in his stead. Misato then gladly handed over control of the Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police over to the Deputy Commander. Misato was back as the Section Chief of Investigations but knew that a promotion to a command post was inevitable at some point later in her career.

Kaji had been hit in the right chest during the last dramatic moments of the SEELE case. However, it hadn't been life threatening and he made a full recovery in three months. What Kaji actually did on the job still remained a mystery to everybody, as well as how he had gotten a .50 calibre Barrett sniper rifle and how he knew where and when to be as well as actually knowing how to operate the sniper rifle accurately. When asked about it, Kaji would simply said, "If I told you, then I would have to kill you."

Gendo Ikari was also present at the wedding and he had made a full recovery and resumed his post as the Commander of Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Police. Gendo was glad to finally know the truth concerning his wife's death and was also glad that the people responsible had met their makers.

Rei Ayanami had been invited to the wedding as well and happily attended. After her traumatic experiences at the hands of SEELE, Rei was allowed to go and live out her own life. She was also allowed to keep her name of Rei Ayanami and went about her days trying to live a normal life. She was succeeding so far, having contracted a job with a famous international modelling agency. Things couldn't have been looking better for Miss Ayanami.

Shinji and Asuka had also been present at the wedding and they were driving home after the reception. Both had made full recoveries from the wounds they had received during the last moments of the SEELE case and since then, Shinji had received the promotion his father long wanted him to get and Asuka received a promotion as well. However, that was not the thing that made Asuka the most happy. It was the engagement ring on Asuka's left hand ring finger that filled her with joy, knowing that she was set to spend the rest of her life with the man of her dreams. The two drove off into the night, knowing that they only beginning to live their lives together.


End file.
